Beasts of No Nation (2015), Unrated, ★★★1/2

Idris Elba as the Commandant. 

Child soldiers have been a subject of bad news in what the world is training future kids who have the potential to change the world in a positive manner. However, it is a bad influence into manipulating kids to change the world in their home continent of Africa and becoming a powerful nation that can make a difference. Commanders are forcing and scaring kids into military tactics for life and it is more risky to get some of them killed in grisly ways. But, this movie is a horrifying outlook of how a child has to survive in his country during a war by becoming a soldier, no matter the obstacles he has to go through. This is a riveting piece of filmmaking most of the way through, but ends a bit conventionally for my taste.

War is taking over Africa threatening a small village which persuades the mother, sister and baby brother of Agu (Abraham Attah), to flee and Agu and his father, older brother and grandfather to stay behind. Unfortunately, all of the men in his family are shot and killed and prompts Agu to flee away from the killings and hide away in the bushes. He is found by a battalion of the Native Defense Force, but they coerce him to join the army as a child soldier.

After all these fresh and newly recruited child soldiers go through a graphic initiation, the "Commandant" (Idris Elba) forces Agu to kill an unarmed man for the conclusion of the initiation. As Agu reminisces about his past regarding his family, he fears that God will punish him for killing people and his hardships of war regarding looting, killing and rape. Later, Agu wants to stop killing but if he does, he fears that he might get killed.

He's a soldier. 

The movie is a harrowing and powerful experience to conceive for it reaches down to the pitfalls of our souls. But, director Cary Fukunaga conveys the sheer emotion of brutal conflict and vulnerability in both the child soldiers themselves and in the regions that are torn apart by war. It is a visually arresting film to watch because you do not feel angry towards this main character who is a kid performing these horrible actions, you feel both sympathy and sadness for him and in general, for all his comrades and "friends" with him. Fukunaga's vision of war is on point, but from the point of view from a child participating in war, it has robbed him of his innocence and childhood.

Basically, there are two main performances that we keep an eye on for the duration of the movie. One main performance is Abraham Attah's standout performance. He is fascinating to watch an actor being so committed to his character and truly showing us the emotions and disparity of being in a war. Also, another great performance is Idris Elba's supporting work. I believe he should get an Oscar nomination despite the controversy of releasing the movie solely on Netflix but he should recognized for his work as a commander who forces the bleak situation at hand on these child soldiers or they get stripped of their life.

Bleak is the word that I describe the experience of watching the movie. Was I emotionally moved? Yes and no. Yes, because the movie shows a realistic and bloody depiction of war in Africa and that it is a bleak vision of the genocide that we witness and never forget. We want to get the picture out of our minds but we cannot. However, because of a conventional ending, I felt that Fukunaga wanted to wrap up a character arc that is somewhat required for the movie to conclude, however, it felt like that wrap-up was a bit poorly executed and not needed. Still, there are great performances, a truly remarkable direction by Cary Fukunaga and an unforgettable experience that was tough to watch. It had the potential to be memorable, though.

***1/2

Don't watch the review.