Review of Beasts of No Nation (2015) by Alex H — 21 Oct 2015

Idris Elba proves himself to be a chameleon once more and is perfect in his role as the charismatic Commandant, however, it is Abraham Attah who is simply nothing less than a revelation in Cary Fukunaga's "Beasts of No Nation".

Attah's heartbreaking portrayal of a small boy thrust into the violent landscape of war is moving, steeped in realism and treated with the most delicate sensitivity. Attah's performance and the poignant loss of innocence depicted on screen is by far the most engaging aspect of the picture even though the film's structure and narrative is nothing wholly unique.

Cary Fukunaga not only takes on the writing and directing of this picture but is also his own cinematographer to which he takes to his task with ease and crafts beautiful shots of lush African jungles to war stricken ghost towns with vibrancy and an eye for the desolate.

The score serves it's purpose and fits to the images yet unfortunately as a whole there is nothing all that memorable about it. All in all, Beasts of no Nation is a fine piece of work that can often be really quite harrowing and dark but never so much so that it could equally offend or dazzle audiences.

It can be watched on Netflix right now so stop watching Damages and Orange is the New Black and get on some sadistic military shit!