Beasts of No Nation

Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation.

In a Netflix movie debut, Beasts of No Nation goes all out with brutality and violence. Do yourself a favor and don't eat anything red while watching this movie, like raviolis or something like that. Beasts of No Nation follows a young boy named Agu who lives in a worn torn part of Africa that never really gets specified. The very beginning of the film shows their way of life, how it is a struggle for money and most of their neighborhood lives in poverty. The beginning shows Agu as a nice boy who does common things to try and make some money for his family, during the first half hour of the film, he is a normal boy. As he continues to live on in an essential war zone, governmental figures show up and take over their village, many of them accuse people who are still in the village as rebels and shoot them dead on the spot. Agu who is played by Abraham Attah finally runs away from all the gun fire, with his father and brother dead, and disconnected from his mother. As Agu is running he is found by a rebel group who is run by a man they repeatedly call Commandent. The movie has some celebrity weight as famous British actor Idris Elba plays the rebellion leader, which essential gives Agu a new way of life.

Much of the film is filmed outside and is uses many shots that appeal to the eye of the viewer to make it a pleasure walking. The screen is filled up with great shots of the outdoors in almost every scene. The emotional impact of the film comes from the little kids who keep getting recruited by the rebellious army. You get a desperate feeling from Agu as his character slowly turns into this monster. It is more than just him becoming angry and killing people like the others around him, I think the movies message is that his anger is really pent up from missing his mother. The movie doesn't lighten up on the violence either, I have watched a lot of movies that you think are violent but this movie left me with some scenes that dropped my jaw and say, "Oh My God!." Which eventually led my roommate in the room to see what was going on.

Overall, I liked this film very much. You could say that some of it was definitely influenced from the movie 12 Years A Slave, but to me, the violence is what this movie needed. It shows the growth of the character Agu, and the violent scenes alone gives you something to talk about with your friends weeks after you watch it. And for that I give this movie an 8 out of 10.