A hard film to sit through, but well worth it!

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2015)

'BEASTS OF NO NATION': Four Stars (Out of Five)
Netflix's new critically acclaimed war film; starring, and co- produced by, Idris Elba. The movie was also co-produced, written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (who's probably most well known for helming season 1 of 'TRUE DETECTIVE'). It's based on the 2005 novel, of the same name, by Uzodinma Iweala (a Nigerian-American writer). It tells the story of an African child, forced to become a soldier in a brutal civil war. It also stars Abraham Attah, as the child soldier, in his film debut. It's a hard film to sit through, but well worth it.
The movie takes place in an unnamed West African country, where a violent civil war has broken out. Agu (Attah) is a young boy, living in a peaceful village, when it's attacked by the army; and the men are all viciously killed. Agu escapes, but he's quickly captured by the rebel forces instead. They're lead by their ruthless commander 'Commandant' (Elba). Commandant forces Agu to join his battalion, or be killed, and we watch as the young boy is stripped of his childhood.
The film is brutally violent, and heartbreaking to watch. It's so disturbing, to experience, that I have a hard time giving it a favorable review; but that's what some films are made for, and this one (impressively) still finds hope in the darkness. The performances of Elba and Attah are both fantastic, and the directing is superb. If you can stomach horrific war films, it's definitely worth seeing.
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