This Film Was Amazing.

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2017)

Beast of No Nation directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga tells the story of a young African boy named Agu who is living in a village during the time of a civil war. The boy is separated from his mother and sister after they are relocated away from the violence. Agu, his father, and brother are forced to stay behind when the resistance attacks killing both Agu's brother and father. Agu, now alone must find a way to survive alone. He wanders through the woods and is picked up by the resistance and is trained to become a child soldier. On this journey, Agu is faced with unimaginable horrors such as, witnessing people be murdered, getting raped, and getting brainwashing into a killing monster. The film closes with Agu and his platoon surrendering and being placed in a refugee camp for rehabilitation.
This film is extremely powerful and leaves quite an impact on the audience. The acting is very well done especially the character of Agu who was played by Abraham Attah, about 13 at time of filming. He's acting skills were superior beyond his years, giving a very dramatic, believable presentation, even including a strong accent. Other acts that played their roles just as well included Idris Elba who played the Commandant as well as Kurt Egyiawan as one of the fellow soldiers. Their strong, believable acting played a big part in making this film as amazing as it was.
Cary Joji Fukunaga also did a wonderful job with the creation and filmmaking of this movie as a whole. He, himself has created several other films in the past such as Jane Eyre or Victoria Para Chino, both of which also containing some historical content as well. He also even received the Nigerian Entertainment Award for Best Picture Making and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series among other awards for his work in cinema. With his filmmaking history and numerous award winnings, Fukunaga is very qualified to create this movie. Beast of No Nation was filmed in Africa in Accra, Ghana, aiding in setting the tone and mood of the film, since the actual setting in the film is Africa as well. The director included extremely powerful scenes to truly get the whole purpose of the movie across, how child soldiers come about and how traumatic and scarring of an experience it can be. Scenes such as Agu getting ripped away from his mother at the start, being pressured into splitting an innocent man's skull, having to witness his friends die all left the viewer speechless. The final scenes of Agu having to now attempt the almost impossible adjustment back into everyday life also shows the audience how Agu's struggles will never really cease since he had seen and done such horrible things at such a young, and impressionable age. The impact of this film creates is indescribable. The amount of detail that Fukunaga put into this movie in order to make Beasts of No Nation such a gripping and catching film is extraordinary. As the watcher, you are pulled in from the start and immediately sympathize with this poor young boy who was once playing in the street with his friends, and now is fighting in a war that he doesn't even know the cause of. The film was also fairly accurate. Children being abducted and morphed into child soldiers happens all across Africa far too frequently in areas such as South Sudan or northern Ugandan. Sadly this is a reality that can be seen all across Africa, children being separated from their families and being forced to join the fight, stories very similar to that of Agu's. All in all, this movie is a must see. Right from the start the audience is hooked, eager to see what becomes of this poor, unfortunate boy. It gives a clear statement and purpose of child slavery and its effects while also still keeping the viewer entertained. The filmmaking is fantastic as well as the acting making is overall just a great film. Beast of No Nation will leave you speechless and in awe.