Synopsis: The life of Agu, a charming little boy who lives in the unknown part of West Africa, is completely shattered due to an ongoing civil war. Agu runs as far as he can to save his life, only to get bombarded by a local rebel group. He later joins them and becomes a ‘child soldier’.

Review: 

Our very first reaction after watching Beasts of No Nation would be: how come this film didn’t make it to the Oscars! Yes, the ‘prestigious’ academy flushed out Cary Joji’s film from the nomination list some years back. Many critics were fuming at the Oscars for this exclusion and even called out the racial bias within the academy — like, they weren’t wrong. In its history, only a small fraction of people of colour have been recognized. 

What’s not so surprising is that this film with an all-black cast backed several other awards across various categories. Maybe the popular film academies like the Oscars have overlooked this film due to their focus on Eurocentric narratives, failing to understand anything beyond that. But forget all these awards…Beasts of No Nation is a film that would stay in your heart rent free, forever!

Abraham Attah, who plays as Agu, deeply affects us through his extraordinary performance. Agu is a young lad, who is mischievous and charming — a boy from our neighbourhood whom we all adore. It only leaves us with a smile when Agu pitches so hard to sell his broken TV. It is delightful to see Agu’s friends dancing within the TV frame as soon as they hear his command. The people in his village charmingly dance around in their native African beats.

(Agu’s Escape into the Unknown: What Awaits in the Woods?)

As the initial part of the film navigates through Agu’s life, we simultaneously learn that there’s political instability in the place where he lives (an unknown region in West Africa). We see characters exchange dialogues on protecting their homeland, thus, setting an overall tempo for the bloodshed that we are about to witness.

We soon see the fears of Agu’s father becoming a reality, as civil war escalates and disrupts everybody’s peace. We realize that the only heartwarming part in the film was Agu’s initial phase. With his little tender legs, Agu runs into the woods to save his life only to get bombarded by the NDF, a local rebel group. 

Strika (Adom Quaye), a young boy from the group, strikes Agu hard to capture him — interestingly they both become friends later. We soon learn more about the NDF and its commandant (Idris Elba). We would feel the aura of the officer in charge, thanks to Idris’s tremendous performance. Everybody in the battalion respects him so much, as he appears like a prophet to them. 

The group never fails to follow the footsteps of its leader, and Agu is also heavily influenced by his ideas. We also see the group practicing something peculiar, as they foster mystical energy before carrying out a lethal operation. Speaking of lethal operations, we can’t just take our eyes off from the mesmerising visuals in this war drama — the pride and greed, along with the gore leave us with mixed signals. 

(The important aspect of the film)

However, we soon realize this film is more than a ‘war drama’. It is about a young child who loses his homeland, has no one, becomes an adult by copying his commandant (only to be later traumatized by him) and loses all his innocence to become a beast — a greedy war changes everything!

The final verdict?

Throughout the film, we feel deeply connected to the character Agu, and by the end, we simply feel sorry for him. The film effortlessly immerses us in a war-ridden zone, made more impactful by its striking score and cinematography. Also, as an audience, we shouldn’t limit this story to one continent, as the effects of war are common phenomena — the story of Agu would be relevant anywhere.