Beasts of no Nation is one of the best movies I have watched this year, hands down in my top two of the entire year. No one else has beaten Mad Max just yet and to be honest I don’t know if they can, Star Wars notwithstanding.

The movie follows a young boy -Agu – and his village’s descent into civil war in an unnamed African country.

What I love is the acting. Then movie introduces Abraham Attah, who puts in a sterling performance as a first carefree then careworn child soldier. Idris Elba is brilliant, and no, his face doesn’t bias me. Lol. And, big plus, his African accent sounds African. You can argue that it is because he is African, but he DID grow up in England, so… Tripod, Agu’s family and friends, and the other soldiers like Striker, are all well chosen, which can be hard to do with a child cast.

The themes are normal. The child soldier story isn’t a new one. But this one is done particularly well. You see a few white people in the movie, but they are not saviours. The rawness of emotion is immediately apparent, which us what I think makes this movie a winner.

What I didn’t like – that the themes are normal and the child soldier story isn’t new. To be fair though, it is still relevant, as much as they try and hide the unnamed African country.

It gets a 9 from me.

Pic courtesy of Screenrant.com