When civil war tears his family apart, a young West African boy is forced to join a unit of mercenary fighters and transform into a child soldier.

Should you watch Beasts of No Nation? Not really. Now this isn’t a ‘bad’ movie but it is a movie that make you feel bad. I initially planned to watch this movie right after it was released but I didn’t which is indicative of its biggest problem. This movie does little to make itself inviting to watch. It’s more like a ‘lesson’ and that isn’t always attractive when choosing how to handle you’re weekend. Now they did add a lure to get you to give this movie a shot, like that Magic School Bus teacher that makes every day class a field trip in order to make it fun, and that lure is Idris Elba.

Elba plays The Commandant and is by far the character you find yourself looking for the most. Although the main character is Agu, a young West African child, Elba is the most interesting character in the movie. I found myself looking for his character to return to the screen to help carry my interest to the finish line. Now this is a result of the fact that he’s an incredibly charismatic actor and that he received the most development out of everyone not named Agu. The letdown is that I wish the movie was more about his character and maybe a little less about Agu and the other child soldiers.

For the most part the movie is full of obedient pot smocking, gun toting killer kids lacking in morals. Oh, and they have no personality whatsoever. I don’t know any of the child soldier names and had to rely on Wikipedia to remember how people got their attention when they needed something. The movie starts with promise for these kids when they’re doing something that comes natural to them, (being kids), but loses steam when they’re tasked to actually act like something they’re not. Soldiers.

Beasts of No Nation may be a bit too gritty for some American audiences. The movie definitely is not as harsh as it could have been but is still pretty shocking in its own ways. There are some nightmarish moments for the kids when the cold reality of their new life sinks in. Agu tries his best to defy and deny the erasure of his personality but as time goes on its increasingly brutal what’s happening to this poor kid. They systematically strip him of his own thought and identity and he has a moment where he realizes: no more childhood, no more friends, no more mom, no more dad, and no more big brother, no more love. It’s heart wrenching to see this poor kid suffer through this life he’s thrown into and the PTSD! The PTSD is awful in its own right and presents as well.

Now while it may be difficult to actually begin watching it’s also fair to say that once you start watching this movie you have no choice but to finish. That’s the bottom line because you quickly get invested in seeing where Agu winds up in life. It’s incredibly fucked up how Agu’s life was fucked by forces out of anyone’s control so you HAVE to see what happens in hopes that something positive happens to improve things. You HOPE something positive happens at least in terms of a movie if not real life. They BETTER not Jon Snow this kid.

Overall like this movie. If you have Netflix and are an Idris Elba fan there’s no reason not to watch this movie. If you have no interest in Elba but are a fan of great stories than you should watch after you finish the rest of your queue. If you are interested in movies that show you a closer look at the never ending wars in Africa then you’ve probably already seen this movie and recommended to your friends. The negatives are mostly in that the character development outside of The Commandant and Agu are non-existent and the child actors are hit or miss with their scenes. I don’t regret this movie and recommend if you are a fan of movies with a decent story but I admit, it’ll be hard trying to explain why you should.