Beasts of No Nation

Name: Beasts of No Nation
Genre: Drama, War
Released: October 16, 2015
Duration: 137 min
Rating: 79

2015

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 244 Ratings

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8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 244 Ratings

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Beasts Of No Nation

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Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: October 16, 2015 | Not Rated

Summary: 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.

Director: Cary Fukunaga

Genre(s): Drama, War

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 137 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Ann Hornaday

Oct 15, 2015

Fukunaga imbues this study of manipulation and manufactured loyalty with an unsettling degree of visual richness and lush natural detail. Read full review

100

The Playlist Jessica Kiang

Sep 2, 2015

Matching Fukunaga's proven storytelling grace with a story truly worth the telling, the result is explosively authentic and yet lyrical, making an utterly inhumane and alien situation both completely real and completely abstract. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

Oct 15, 2015

This is a harrowing film to watch. In spite of the vibrant jungle greens and the searing sun, it’s as bleak a vision of modern warfare as has ever been put on screen. Read full review

John Bleasdale

Sep 3, 2015

Fukunaga and his actors - especially the two leads - have managed to create a riveting drama which is suitably appalling. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Oct 14, 2015

The atrocities against children begin to acquire an unwelcome redundancy in their relentlessness and threaten to inure the viewer. Read full review

Steven Rea

Oct 15, 2015

The country goes unnamed, the warring factions aren't always clear, but the nightmarish exploitation of children is made specific in the most vivid, visceral ways. Read full review

Ed Gonzalez

Oct 11, 2015

Cary Joji Fukunaga’s artistry registers less as psychological imprint than as a measure of his professional bona fides. Read full review

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User Reviews

MrFeyerwire

Jun 28, 2020

"Beasts Of No Nation" served as a great reminder, as to why my tastes are constantly diversifying. I love war movies, obscure stories, period pieces, exotic filming locales and movies which paint vivid portraits of an otherwise obscure time and place. Without Idris Elba and his Oscar Worthy"Beasts Of No Nation" served as a great reminder, as to why my tastes are constantly diversifying. I love war movies, obscure stories, period pieces, exotic filming locales and movies which paint vivid portraits of an otherwise obscure time and place. Without Idris Elba and his Oscar Worthy (but snubbed) performance, the movie might have failed greatness. With that said, every element from filming, directing to the sporadic atmospheric scores, all add up to make this movie emotional, awe inspiring and unforgettable. It lands in my top 10 favorite movies of all time, right up there with Slumdog Millionaire, Black Hawk Down, Avatar and Tron.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Scorpion

Oct 17, 2015

In a film that hurts both our consciousness, the worst part is when it ends, for then we órfans temporarily genius director and amazing performances from his cast. Reflection is least we can do after two hours of a monstrous and daunting reality, however Fukunaga also presents us with aIn a film that hurts both our consciousness, the worst part is when it ends, for then we órfans temporarily genius director and amazing performances from his cast. Reflection is least we can do after two hours of a monstrous and daunting reality, however Fukunaga also presents us with a definitely sad but beautiful late enough that the hope hint that he is equal to destroy survive and invade our minds and attitudes… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

mmweiss

Oct 17, 2015

"Beasts of No Nation" is an unquestionably powerful film, boosted by strong performances and impeccable cinematography. It is a very violent film, and therefore not for everybody, but it takes the viewer on a journey so compelling that it is not likely to be forgotten very soon. Not only is"Beasts of No Nation" is an unquestionably powerful film, boosted by strong performances and impeccable cinematography. It is a very violent film, and therefore not for everybody, but it takes the viewer on a journey so compelling that it is not likely to be forgotten very soon. Not only is it Cary Joji Fukunaga's best work to date, it's also one of the best films of 2015.… Expand

6 of 7 users found this helpful61

jesseurbancsik

Nov 24, 2015

Netflix is killin' it this year! What an amazing movie! Beautiful cinematography, performances and life lessons! This movie really makes you think! Idris is sure to gain an Oscar nomination for his performance!

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

aadityamudhar

Apr 19, 2016

We know the stories of refugees. We hear about their wars. Beasts of No Nation allows us to see it first hand. Director Cary Fukunaga may be one of the best directors around when it comes to showing us absolutely brutal and incredibly visceral looks at life in war torn regions (Sin NombreWe know the stories of refugees. We hear about their wars. Beasts of No Nation allows us to see it first hand. Director Cary Fukunaga may be one of the best directors around when it comes to showing us absolutely brutal and incredibly visceral looks at life in war torn regions (Sin Nombre being the other film by him to do this, but in South America). Incredibly powerful, violent, and intense, Beasts of No Nation will undoubtedly go down as one of the best films of 2015. The cinematography is gorgeous, as in all of Fukunaga's work, but the strongest element in the film are the characters. Every character truly elicits an emotional response within you. Their stories, their presence, and their power, all resonate with the viewer. Fukunaga does a great job creating characters we care about in such a mess of destruction and devastation. Through both his direction and writing, we truly get the full impact of their trauma and that makes this one all the more powerful. The acting is also incredible. Abraham Attah turns in one of the best performances from a child actor I have ever seen and Idris Elba is phenomenal. A truly wondrous film, Beasts of No Nation is one of the best films of the year and deserves to be recognised as such.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FilmPhonic

Oct 27, 2015

When media streaming giants Netfilx chooses a brutal and powerful African child soldier drama as their 1st original movie and entry into the movie distribution business, you know they’re willing to take risks. With a small budget that can’t compete with the major film studios, they’ve optedWhen media streaming giants Netfilx chooses a brutal and powerful African child soldier drama as their 1st original movie and entry into the movie distribution business, you know they’re willing to take risks. With a small budget that can’t compete with the major film studios, they’ve opted for creativity and daring to break into a major part of the movie industry they may well revolutionize.

This is not the first film we’ve seen about African child soldiers, but it’s the first that will be seen by a large western audience and manages to capture the raw realism of ‘Johnny Mad Dog’ and ‘Ezra’ while combining it with the focused energy and compelling narrative of favela drama ‘City of God’, all while learning the lessons about the madness of war from the classics of the last 40 years.

‘Beasts of No Nation’ is an incredibly brutal and violent but powerful drama that focuses an unflinching look at the plight of child soldiers in Africa. By not setting the story in a specific country it represents the horrors inflicted upon children in countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone over the last few decades, and indeed it could apply to child soldiers in South America and the more recent horrifying corruption of children by “Islamic State”. All of which raises uncomfortable questions about the West’s selective moral outrage and lack of action when it come to global injustice.

As the lead “Agu” in his acting debut and “Best Young Actor” award winner at the Venice Film Festival, Ghanaian schoolboy Abraham Attah, 13 years old at the time of filming, delivers an incredibly nuanced performance that’s as good as any child acting display we’ve seen. Idris Elba also shines as the charismatic and domineering rebel commandant, while Cary Joji Fukunaga’s direction is assured and his adaptation of Uzo Iweala’s novel is effective, as is the striking cinematography that captures the vivid greens and yellows of the Ghanian landscape where this was filmed.

There are some who have criticised ‘Beasts of No Nation’ for its narrow focus on the plight of child soldiers within the larger context of African civil wars. This shows a fear of any truth can be vividly illuminated by drama and which differs from their world view, from those more comfortable looking at the mirror in the bliss of their own ignorance.

The Bottom Line…
Harrowingly brutal, powerful and often hard to watch, ‘Beasts of No Nation’ is war drama at its most uncompromising and tragic, made worse by the fact that it will probably remain timely for generations to come.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

shoulderoforion

Apr 24, 2016

Nope, did not care for this movie one bit, love Cary Fukunaga's first season of True Detective & dig Idris Elba's Luther UK, but this flick left me flat, there are some pretty scenes but we've seen this story done before & I found it plodding & uninteresting. Was expecting so much more.

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

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81	#81 Best Movie of 2015
26	#26 Most Shared Movie of 2015