Review of Beasts of No Nation (2015) by Filmphonic — 27 Oct 2015

When media streaming giants Netfilx chooses a brutal and powerful African child soldier drama as their 1st original movie and entry into the movie distribution business, you know they’re willing to take risks. With a small budget that can’t compete with the major film studios, they’ve opted for creativity and daring to break into a major part of the movie industry they may well revolutionize.

This is not the first film we’ve seen about African child soldiers, but it’s the first that will be seen by a large western audience and manages to capture the raw realism of ‘Johnny Mad Dog’ and ‘Ezra’ while combining it with the focused energy and compelling narrative of favela drama ‘City of God’, all while learning the lessons about the madness of war from the classics of the last 40 years.

‘Beasts of No Nation’ is an incredibly brutal and violent but powerful drama that focuses an unflinching look at the plight of child soldiers in Africa. By not setting the story in a specific country it represents the horrors inflicted upon children in countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone over the last few decades, and indeed it could apply to child soldiers in South America and the more recent horrifying corruption of children by “Islamic State”. All of which raises uncomfortable questions about the West’s selective moral outrage and lack of action when it come to global injustice.

As the lead “Agu” in his acting debut and “Best Young Actor” award winner at the Venice Film Festival, Ghanaian schoolboy Abraham Attah, 13 years old at the time of filming, delivers an incredibly nuanced performance that’s as good as any child acting display we’ve seen. Idris Elba also shines as the charismatic and domineering rebel commandant, while Cary Joji Fukunaga’s direction is assured and his adaptation of Uzo Iweala’s novel is effective, as is the striking cinematography that captures the vivid greens and yellows of the Ghanian landscape where this was filmed.

There are some who have criticised ‘Beasts of No Nation’ for its narrow focus on the plight of child soldiers within the larger context of African civil wars. This shows a fear of any truth can be vividly illuminated by drama and which differs from their world view, from those more comfortable looking at the mirror in the bliss of their own ignorance.

The Bottom Line….

Harrowingly brutal, powerful and often hard to watch, ‘Beasts of No Nation’ is war drama at its most uncompromising and tragic, made worse by the fact that it will probably remain timely for generations to come.