Compelling and Powerfulbut not the best

Rating: 8/10 (12 December 2015)

This is the movie that made me join Netflix. The trailers looked very promising, and the film does not disappoint. The plot is told from the perspective of Agu (Abraham Attah), a child growing up in an unnamed African country. The first fifteen minutes provides a sense of calm and general happiness, emphasizing the childhood innocence of this boy. He has a loving family and a wild imagination. The story takes a dramatic turn when war breaks out in Agu's homeland, resulting in the separation from his family. Agu is forced into the army as a child soldier. While films like "Blood Diamond" and "Lord of War" scratch the surface on child soldiers in Africa, "Beasts of No Nation" takes you down to its core level. It is brutal, dark, and inhumane. As viewers, we watch as Agu transforms from an innocent boy to a brainwashed killer, under the manipulative powers of the Commandant (Idris Elba).
Director Cary Joji Fukunaga does not sugarcoat the barbarity. There are several moments intended to make the viewer uncomfortable, including a harsh scene where a young girl is stomped to death while a group of child soldiers laugh. Despite the graphic violence, Fukunaga does not demonize the children. The director provides us moments where the child soldiers are simply children. They play games and question what their futures will bring. It cannot be said that we necessarily like them, but given their circumstances and the lifestyle that has been forced onto them, they are understandable characters.
While Idris Elba has been receiving nominations (including a Golden Globe & SAG) for his role, it is Abraham Attah's performance that makes the movie. He has a talent that most child actors, and many adult-aged actors lack, the ability to convey powerful emotion without uttering a single word. Though unlikely, I hope he secures an Oscar nom for his performance. Idris Elba is convincing as the manipulative and despicable Commandant, but his British accent breaks through on several occasions, pulling me out of several key scenes.
The technical skills and Fakunaga's direction are nothing short of remarkable. Fakunaga acted as his own cinematographer for this movie and he does an incredible job. In some instances, he seemed to shadow Terrence Malick's work from "The Thin Red Line" with his selection of beautiful landscape shots, close-ups of nature, high saturation and natural lighting. The voice-over by Agu adds another layer to this compelling film as he reflects on his past experiences as a soldier.
While this is a very good movie, it is not without faults. The last act feels drawn out, making it longer than necessary. The conclusion is particularly weak and withholds any catharsis from the character. A more glaring problem was the thick African accents. They made the English dialogue very hard to understand. It would have been more appropriate if all the characters spoke in their native language and then subtitles were added after the fact. The first fifteen minutes were mostly subtitled, as the rest of the film should have been.
2016 has not been the best year of movies. However, December is the month where the greatest films are usually released. "Beasts of No Nation" is a compelling and powerful film, and marks one of this year's best. But I would not rank it as one of the best of all time.