Beasts of No Nation

Plot synopsis:
Agu is a cheerful pre-teen boy playing barefoot with his friends in an African village. He lives in a Christian home, a modest but clean family dwelling with a father, mother, teenage brother, senile grandfather and infant sister. There is talk of war, sounds of gunfire in the distance and UN troops but the family has high spirits and laugh and joke around. As the civil war gets closer the villagers decide to send the women and children to the Capital for safety. In a melee, there is no room for Agu as the packed cars and taxis depart.A short time later the government troops enter the village. The remaining men and boys try to hide but are discovered, an angry Sergeant declares them as spies and orders them killed. The prisoners scatter but are shot, Agu's brother and father are killed but he makes it out to the forest in safety.Agu, wandering in the bush getting hungry is captured by a gang of armed boys, they have machetes, AK-47s and other weapons. The leader is a man called Commandant (Idris Elba) who lets Agu join their battalion. First he is a carrier, hauling an ammo box. The battalion hikes to their camp high in the hills. There Agu is further indoctrinated and brainwashed into the group, and receives training in small arms platoon combat. There is another boy is same age named Strika, angry who never talks. An earnest young man is the second in command referred to as "2-I-C".The first real mission is a road ambush. The youths hide around a bridge and attack a convoy of jeeps and trucks. Successful, they strip the dead enemy of anything valuable. A survivor is brought to the Commandant, who then gives Agu a machete and orders him to kill the man. Pausing and needing some prodding, Agu finally hacks he pleading man, Strika joins in and they chop away furiously. The battalion take the vehicles and drive off.In a town the battalion attacks as part of a larger force to take over a bridge. The Commandant personally leads his troops by coaching and exhorting the scared teens in his unit in a real combat situation. At night they relax and the Commandant calls in Agu to his office. He is on the phone with the Supreme Commander getting congratulations and his next mission. Agu has found a tinfoil pack of drugs on a dead body and offers it to the Commandant. The Commandant teaches Agu the importance of obedience in the military and following orders even if you don't like them. He encourages Agu by telling him he has leadership potential. Going into the bedroom the Commandant snorts the drugs, lays back on his cot and summons Agu to pleasure him.Leaving the hut, Agu is stunned and quiet, Strika comforts him.The battalion attacks another town, shooting people on the streets and ransacking houses. Agu and his team find a woman and young child hiding in a bedroom. Confused, Agu thinks the woman is his mother and tries to hug her, then realizes she is not. Upset, he paces around then shoots her in the head as another teen is starting to rape her. The boys then stomp the infant. After, Agu starts using drugs like the older boys in the battalion.The Commandant is summoned to see the Supreme Commandant, he brings Agu, Strika and a few others. They are made to wait several hours before the elegant politician deigns to see him. The white suited man announces the Commandant will be promoted to Deputy Security Chief, but the Commandant sees it as a demotion and wonders about his pay.For his last night with his boys the Commandant takes them to a brothel. The older ones go to rooms with the ladies while Agu and Strika drink beer and sleep in the reception area. A gunshot rings out and the 2-I-C staggers out clutching his stomach. A prostitute says it was an accident as she was playing with his gun. Frantic, the Commandant orders the women shot and the men leave quickly. 2-I-C dies later.The Commandant refuses his promotion and takes his battalion back into the bush. In a skirmish Strika is shot, Agu tries to carry him piggyback but the boys dies. They cover him with leaves and continue. In a fetid en-trenched base where are the troops are either drugged up or shooting randomly, they approach a weary Commandant. The new 2-I-C says they have no money or bullets and are leaving. Everyone points weapons at each other but the Commandant relents and let's them go. A short while later a UN force disarms and captures the straggling teens.Agu is sent to a pleasant ocean-side camp with other youngsters. The boys play soccer and swim in the surf and receive counselling. A reticent Agu goes through the DTs to get over his drug addiction and finally opens up to a social worker and goes to play with the others.

Tags: violence

Review:
A gripping account of modern day war seen through a child's eyes, Beasts of No Nation is easily one of the best of the year.The first thing you'll notice is how beautiful the film is.
Director and cinematographer Cary Fukunaga makes sure you remember the reality of this not-so-fictional story, paralleling Agu's family life and how his world was flipped upside down when he joined a group of mercenary fighters.
He never lets us forget the harsh realities of war, touching on familiar themes like family but going a step further by making it personal for Agu. As the film is his story through and through, the adult details of war are kept to a minimum.
The film doesn't specify what part of Africa it is, but you know it is something that is real.Netflix doesn't hide anything about the realities of what happens to families, children, fathers, and brothers, as well as the numbness the war leaders (on both sides, really) have toward excessive and brutal violence.
He is forced into a mercenary squad after his family is torn apart, and he experiences something that is even darker than hell itself.That young boy, played by Abraham Attah, puts on a performance I have never seen before in a child actor.
I felt foolish realizing my immaturity in life, and felt embarrassed for us as America in general, for caring so much about things so materialistic and shallow, when people in Africa (and other parts of the world, no doubt), are fighting for their lives every day, being torn apart by corrupt leaders and greed.To compare this film, it is similar to The City of God and Blood Diamond, but in an of itself, it is certainly unique.
He could do whatever he wanted after that, and so, tip toeing past comfortable studio gigs that may or may not have landed on his desk, he ventured out to the African jungles with Idris Elba for the most stressful shoot since Apocalypse Now. Catching malaria, filling in for an injured camera operator, and constantly rewriting the script due to the actors dropping out, the haphazard conditions shows on the film for better and for worse.Coppola's film is an apt point of comparison for the effect of Beasts of No Nation, as well as Platoon and The Thin Red Line.
Netflix's first outing on the big screen is a huge success thanks to an absolutely harrowing tale of conflict that makes for one of the most fascinating and thought-provoking movie experiences you've had in a long time.The story follows this young boy, Agu, as he becomes deeper and deeper involved in the rebel army under the wing of the Commandant, played by Idris Elba.
Elba is often terrifying as the warmongering troop leader, and his unnerving performance is key to making this such an unsettling and disturbing film.However, even Idris Elba is outshone by the stunning performance given by the young Abraham Attah, who plays Agu. Attah does a brilliant job at showing his character's transformation over the course of the story, from an innocent young boy to a hardened warrior in one of the most brutal wars on the planet.This ties in perfectly, then, with the main theme of the film, which is all about the way that war destroys innocence entirely and replaces it with only doom and despair.
In that, you can see that this is clearly an anti-war film, but it fortunately doesn't present itself so much as that, only giving you its powerful message if you concentrate hard enough and look for the details telling you about the destruction that war has brought to this place.I say that because this film is, on the whole, not the most fast- paced, and if you watch it with your brain turned off, you'll likely be bored, because it's quite long, and hasn't got much action at all, it's the power and emotion of the underlying themes that provides the horrifying punch that makes this so compelling and upsetting.Cary Joji Fukunaga's directing is also stunning.
There are so many astonishing long shots of individuals' faces, particularly focused on Agu, and they just have such an incredible emotional power when you really look deep into their situation.Abraham Attah's performance as a young boy who has clearly been through hell is of course integral to making that emotion clear, but the inventive and beautiful directing really aggrandises that feeling of total despair and loss of innocence, which is why this film is just such an incredible one to watch..
It's the performances of both Elba and newcomer Abraham Attah (as Agu) that make this such a devastating and fascinating movie to watch, and it's the filmmaking of Fukunaga that keeps our eyes glued to the screen when we would just as soon turn away..
The sad part is that this tale, as brutal as it is, it still isn't as powerful as it proclaims to be.'Beasts of No Nation' is A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.'Beasts of No Nation' is well-made, but not very well-written.
The Netflix film "Beasts of No Nation" is a dramatization of such an army but the exact countries involved are never mentioned...and it could be one of several across the continent.The film centers on a boy who appears to be about 8-10 years old, Agu. When the film begins, he's living in a zone controlled by the UN, though true to form the UN troops soon leave and the village is destroyed by government forces.
This non-traditional form of release could also be blamed for its omission from the Academy Awards, with Idris Elba's Best Actor snub the most glaring eyebrow-raiser in the #OscarSoWhite debate.Of the film itself, Beasts of No Nation is an intermittently excellent portrayal of child soldiers in an unnamed African country that works best when focusing on innocence lost and the relationship between narrator Agu (Abraham Attah) and his Commandant (Elba), yet hampered by pacing issues and an exhausting running time.
(note: this movie isn't a casual Saturday night film to watch drunk in your fraternity house eating cold cuts off of your stomach, it is quite deep and VERY disturbing.)This film follows a young African boy named Agu (Abraham Attah).
Here we are exposed to what hints at slight character development (something this movie really lacks), the disturbing atrocities committed by both Commandant and the rest of the battalion, and the brilliant narration given by Agu.With all of this in mind, it will be shocking to know that my biggest complaint with this film is it is hard to care about many of the characters.
I also feel that had we been given more historical background and information on the war being fought, we would better understand the situation of this African country (which I don't even remember having a name the movie!).So do I recommend you watch this?
Director Cary Fukunaga brings us the turmoil of war as experienced by child soldiers through the eyes and words of Agu (Abraham Attah).The film starts of sweetly, in a safe zone of an unnamed West African country, Agu and his friends go about with a television box without a screen entertaining villagers and UN soldiers.
They sell the TV set as a box of imagination.Before long in the country ravaged with civil war, they are abandoned by the UN soldiers, his father and brother are killed, he is separated from his mother and sister and under the tutelage of the Commandant (Idris Elba) in order to survive he goes from being a playful young boy to a brutal soldier as he is firstly forced to hack a man to death.The Commandant is a sadistic mercenary, who trains the child soldiers and at night selects some of the boys to rape.
Superb acting - especially by the lead young boy Agu. The movie contains some very harrowing scenes - it's not an easy watch, but it is worthwhile.The movie is well directed and gives you plenty of food for thought.
Set in an unnamed West African country, director Cary Fukunaga, takes us through the turmoils of war as we experience it through the eyes of a young child who is forced to become a soldier.
So, without having to make a one-time overpriced transaction to see the movie, and without having to leave the comfort of my room, I watched Beasts of No Nation.The film chronicles the tragic journey of a young child, Agu, living in a nameless nation ravaged by war.
Credit is definitely due to the writing of this complex commander, but Idris Elba makes his insanity plausible and not just a showpiece.Speaking of the writing, Cary Joji Fukunaga not only wrote and directed, but shot the film, and the cinematography is probably the strongest dimension.
Movie theaters choosing to pass on the film simply because it wanted to release it on the big screen and Netflix at the same time makes the movie theater chains feel like the 'cool kid' on the block who never leaves his hometown; irrelevant, pathetic, and soon to be forgotten while the rest of the world progresses on.
A great Idris Elba and a wonderfull performance of the main character(Abraham Attah) makes this movie one of the best netflix originals.
Intense, destabilising, profound, shocking...this is what movie making should be about...subtly invites the audience to judge the protagonist...despite the brutality, the inner voice yearns for answers to the horror that war brings...beautiful vibrant cinematography, well paced editing, absorbing soundtrack, top notch acting...who needs Oscars...this director has some talent.
However, Abraham Attah, only 13 or 14 at the time, steals the show as Agu. He is excellent in the role.Solid supporting performances.The best movie Netflix has made, to date..
Movie Review: "Beasts of No Nation" (2015)With an almost honest look on the child soldiers situation in Central Africa, director Cary Fukunaga, known as creator of a spellbinding HBO Miniseries ''True Detective" (2014) starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, comes the first independent as initally daring Netflix production, which even with towering, but then emotionally disappointing actor Idris Elba, can not convince any audience at home or at abandoned theatres in award season 2015 that at least outstanding television format director Cary Fukunaga is to be wish the best of success for a crowning film-noirish dark conclusion for faithful 007 actor Daniel Craig in the motion picture delux production of yet untitled ''Bond 25''.FAZIT: Picture declined (cut)Cinemajesty Entertainments 2018.
The film does a good job depicting the brutal process of African youth being converted into child soldiers, not only in this un-named West African nation, but probably throughout all of Africa.
Beast of no Nation painted vivid shots of what life was like for these child soldiers, so it can be a little hard to watch.
It's the story of a child soldier fighting a civil war in an unnamed African country (filmed in Ghana).
Director Cary Joji Fukunaga who also directed a season of the classic TV series True Detective 2014-15 has created a gem in Beasts of No Nation.Starring Idris Elba who has also been in other classic flicks, Star Trek Beyond 2016, Bastille Day 2016, Avengers: Age of Ultron 2015, RocknRolla 2008 and 28 Weeks Later 2007.Also starring Abraham Attah.I enjoyed the often overlooked story of children used as soldiers in Africa and the violence.If you enjoyed this as much as then check out other classic African flicks, Johnny Mad Dog 2008, Viva Riva!
Beasts of No Nation is a Netflix original movie about Child slavery and its role during an African civil war.
Beasts of No Nation stars Abraham Attah as the young, trouble Agu and Idris Elba as the power-hungry, merciless Commandant who leads the battalion.
excellent acting directing and filming makes this movie the call for help to put and end to wars..
This movie is about child soldiers in an un-named African country, and it manages to show both the horrors of (civil) war and the beauty of Africa at the same time.
Beasts of No Nation is a Netflix original movie that was filmed in Ghana Africa with the plot of the story taking place in West Africa.
The main actors of the film are Abraham Attah who played Agu and Idris Elba who played the Commandant.
They end up taking him in as one of their own and we as the audience get to see Agu's childhood and innocence slip away as he is transformed into a child soldier.The Director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, uses a staccato filming style near the beginning of the film.
Netflix's first original film "Beasts of No Nation" explores the horrors of child soldiers in an unnamed African country.
It's an impressively constructed effort and for all those that may have worried Fukunaga's work on True Detective was but a flash in the pan, they can rest easy on the basis of the product he has delivered here.There's a wild, almost nightmare like quality to how Fukunaga captures much of the goings on in Beasts; from the jungle set camp of the warring soldiers, the fighting scenes (in particular a mind altered look at a village battle) and the way in which our main protagonist and child soldier Agu delivers a voice-over to let the audience into his inner mindset set, Beasts is a beast of its very own, and it's all the better for it for not conforming to usual resolutions or plot progressions.At the very heart of Fukunaga's film also is the delivery of one of the best child performances your likely to ever see and another feather in the cap of Idris Elba whose quickly becoming one of his generations most powerful performers.
Alongside his seasoned co-star in the form of Elba's charismatic yet vulnerable commandant, Beasts features some of the year's best performances and it wouldn't be surprising to see these two at next year's Oscar ceremony.Beasts of No Nation marks the beginning of a brave new world, a Netflix led charge on feature film watching and while it's a shame many of us will never get to see this devastating beauty on the big screen, we should be more than excited for what the future holds on the basis of this no holds barred tale that shows the loss of innocence in the midst of chaos and death.One of the year's best films and in many ways most shocking (a few scenes are almost unbearable in subject matter and intensity), Beasts of No Nation is yet another reason to suggest Fukunaga could well become not only one of the best filmmakers of his generation, but one the most accomplished filmmakers in many moons.4 ½ screen-free TV's out of 5.
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.
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.
"Beasts of No Nation" is one of 2015's most realistic and visceral films, an unforgettable drama detailing the experiences of a young boy named Agu who is forced into joining a group of child soldiers trained into become guerrilla killers during Nigeria's civil war.
After all, who really wants to watch a movie about child soldiers recruited to become killers in savage African civil wars?
The first in what is sure to be a long era of Netflix films, Beasts of No Nation, helmed by True Detective Season 1's Cary Fukunaga, tracks a young boy, Agu, in an unnamed West African country ravaged by civil war who is taken under the wing of the charismatic Rebel Commandant (Idris Elba) after his family is killed by government forces.
The film follows the story of Agu (Abraham Attah), a young West African boy who gets involved in his country's civil war after joining a rebel military battalion headed by the powerful Commandant (Idris Elba).
This film delivers a powerful message, with the help of it's shocking content and brilliant acting from both Idris Elba and the previously unknown child actor, Abraham Attah.
That's not to say that the picture isn't impressive by any means for it is definitely a powerful, provocative & compelling piece of work but this movie industry's immoderate fascination with the civil war subject is slowly becoming unhealthy.Set in an unnamed West African country, Beasts of No Nation tells the story of a young boy named Agu who, after witnessing his family being gunned down by soldiers, flees from the village but inadvertently runs into the rebel forces and is coerced to join them in their fight.
The plot then follows Agu's harrowing journey as a child soldier plus the loss of innocence he undergoes after witnessing the brutality & hardships of war.Written, shot & directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation takes a very no-holds- barred approach to bring its script to life on the film canvas and is able to depict everything in an uncompromising manner.
They loved me".The story is about a young child in an unnamed African country learns to become a soldier under the tutelage of a Commandant.Beasts of No Nation is shocking, powerful, heartbreaking and scary to watch sometimes.
'BEASTS OF NO NATION': Four Stars (Out of Five)Netflix's new critically acclaimed war film; starring, and co- produced by, Idris Elba.
The film tells the story of Agu, a child who finds himself as a soldier in a civil war in Africa.