Good Movie

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2017)

The film Beast of No Nation is a movie about how a civil war in Africa can be very brutal and inhumane. The film follows a young African child whose village was invaded by an unnamed army, and whose dad and brother are killed by this army. He runs away and stumbles into a rebel army that trains him to be a child soldier. The movie follows all of the struggles and horrors that the boy, Agu, goes through, and his mission to get revenge for his father and brother, and get back to his mother and sister. The movie goes through all aspects of being a soldier, like the cruel commandant and the killings that a kid has to do. The movie is very sad and emotional and is a very good movie for learning about what happens in some African countries, and the brutality that happens there.
The movie is not based on real events that happened, but it is a fictional story based on real life accounts of the civil wars across Africa. Since it is fictional, the filmmakers took a few artistic liberties with the film. One of these things is the fact that Agu sold a TV to a soldier in the beginning of the film, and he found the same soldier some time later in the film. Also, the commandant disobeyed his orders and left the supreme commander, which caused them to run out of supplies and eventually surrender. This mostly did not happen in reality, and they likely would have stayed together with the rest of the army. This probably happened to advance the plot, and add another internal story line.
The theme of family was very prominent in this movie. Agu being separated from his family and trying to get back to his mother, the entire squadron being one big family, and even the brotherhood between Agu and Strika all show how family is very important in the movie. God and Christianity is also very important. Agu is always speaking to God, and the soldiers all pray to God when someone dies. God is a very prominent figure especially to Agu, and he feels bad about all of the sin he commits, and eventually even feels that he can't speak to God because of all the wrongs he has done.
Overall, I thought the movie was very interesting and well-made. It keeps the viewer watching and builds so much emotion that it seems impossible that this kind of thing could even be happening somewhere in the world.