Beasts of No Nation Review

Rating: 9/10 (4 October 2016)

The film "Beasts of No Nation" is much more than just a military-action movie. This film creates an incredible environment of a country flipped upside down because of a civil war. It is a fast-paced, chilling, emotional, and sometimes disturbing story of a young boy's life that was changed forever by a war he never should have been a part of. The story follows a young boy named Agu (Abraham Attah) who finds himself thrown into the war by the Commandant (Idris Elba), throughout the film Agu must face situations that no one in their lifetime should ever have to experience.
One of the most stunning aspects of this film is the atmosphere in which all of the events of the movie unfold. The detailed and unique costume design paired with the dynamic scenery results in an unbelievably realistic setting, tied together with the ingenious sound design and visionary camera angles greatly contributes to the amazement that this movie is. The unique camera angles helps keep the action sequences fast-paced and intense and added to the gritty realism of the movie as a whole. This film has a hand-full of disturbing scenes that not all viewers may wish to see, however, are invaluable to the development of the main character Agu.
The narration of Agu maintains the focus on this character throughout the movie, and makes the movie more interesting by narrowing the focus of the movie onto the story of a single character. As the film progresses Agu is faced with tougher and tougher situations, and his reactions to these cruel situations are part of what makes the film so emotional. Abraham Attah does an incredible job playing main character Agu, especially for this being his premier acting experience. Abraham's subtle body language and facial expressions do a great job of displaying the emotions Agu would experience in such scenarios.
Supporting actor, Idris Elba, had several very impressive performances throughout the movie. His role as the Commandant reinforces the movie's fast-paced, dark and intense tones. Elba's bold and 'larger than life' acting style keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats the entire time. The role of the Commandant also played an important part in the development of the main character Agu; some of the darkest and most emotional scenes of the movie are a result of the conflicts and struggles the Commandant forces Agu through.
Overall this movie does an incredible job of showing the variety of impacts and effects of war. It doesn't just show the destruction of land and property, the disruption of communities, and the massacre of lives, but also the lasting impacts on the lives of the innocent people affected by war. "Beasts of No Nation" shows all of this while retaining its fast-paced, intense, and dark tone. This movie might just redefine the genre of military- action films; because of how well it displayed the overall scope of civil war and the rippling cultural effects of war.