Beast of no Nation starring Idris Elba, features a scene in the civil war, where a young orphan is raised to become and instrument of war and destruction at a very tender age.
It wants to immerse itself entirely in Agu's experience, yet the filmmaker can't resist standing aloft in scenes that underscore the soldiers' ages and their actions, and pointing out easy ironies.
The film is very well shot in tough circumstances and has a central performance from Idris Elba that can only be described as mind-boggling. Abraham Attah as the boy is pretty good too.
Fukunaga's hurtling camera and taut cutting keep Beasts of No Nation only just this side of hallucinatory, and Elba is the kind of titanic actor to kick it to a near-mythic level.
Fukunaga's visual knack for wading into dark, perilous atmospheres to capture the trauma that haunts his characters comes to full fruition in Beasts of No Nation.
Idris Elba gives a powerhouse performance as the warlord of a rebel African army that trains children as soldiers. The Oscar for Best Supporting Actor should have his name on it.
Beasts of No Nation wants desperately to be progressive and challenge the cinematic landscape, but it suffers from Cary Fukunaga's stylistic and creative implosion.
Fukunaga gives the film a visual grandeur that makes it feel like it's taking place after the world has ended, and all that's left for Agu is this morass of endless, uncaring violence.
