Review of Beasts of No Nation (2015) by Maksim B — 10 Dec 2015

A heartbreaking and a chillingly gripping war-drama, Beasts of No Nation is a hard-to-chew, provocative and shockingly brutal movie. A powerful depiction of what war enslavement of children looks like, this delivery is not only an early Oscar would certainly capture your attention throughout all its 120 minutes and it would make you feel quite uncomfortable while sitting in your sofa.

The story takes place in West Africa where Agu (Abraham Attah) witness the slaughtering of his father and brother, and the separation from his mother by an assault of government troops on his peaceful village. While running from the troops he is captured by the mercenaries of Commandant (Idris Elba) and forcefully enlisted in their ranks. Trained, abused, but also integrated, Agu becomes a ruthless soldier who slowly loses the innocence of a young boy. Visually disturbing, and yet beautiful, this uncompromising movie is not an easy art-house delivery to watch. Its content would challenge you while the performances of Idris Elba and Abraham Attah would definitely energize you to a level where you would be ready to cast an Oscar vote for them.

In conclusion, Cary Joji Fukunaga's masterpiece is one of the highlights of 2015 and it deserves at least several Oscar nods as well as to be on everyone's "to see" list. Its earlier release date and Netflix release would most probably have huge negative effect on its Awards chances, but nevertheless this is one of the best movies of 2015.