A journey that's hard to forget

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2016)

Beasts of no nation is not an easy watch. There are truly heart wrenching scenes throughout that are shocking to watch. It depicts the true horror of guerilla warfare in Africa and puts you through some uncomfortable viewing that leaves you with more questions than answers. How can this happen? The acting itself is really impressive. Abraham Attah stole the show for me. Utterly convincing in every aspect of the story line. Idris Elba was also great - I'm sure it can't have been an easy role to play but he managed and was convincing enough. The script was very well written and really helped to highlight a voice amongst all of the madness. There were times when the band of soldiers we watch made me think of a modern uptake on Apocalypse Now's Colonel Kurtz and his followers. There was a similar other worldliness to it brought about by it's unflinching horror. It all did move at a fast pace and I couldn't help but feel that it was missing something that would have made it greater. Or perhaps it all ended in too much of a hurry. But it is what it is - and that is a very good movie.