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Beasts of No Nation

2015

Child. Captive. Killer.

A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child fighting in the civil war of an unnamed, fictional West African country. Follows the journey of Agu as he's forced to join a group of soldiers. While Agu fears his commander and many of the men around him, his fledgling childhood has been brutally shattered by the war raging through his country, and he is at first torn between conflicting revulsion and fascination. Depicts the mechanics of war and does not shy away from explicit, visceral detail, painting a complex, difficult picture of Agu as a child soldier.

Abraham Attah Idris Elba Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye Opeyemi Fagbohungbe Emmanuel Affadzi Richard Pepple Ama K. Abebrese Kobina Amissah-Sam John Arthur Kurt Egyiawan Jude Akuwudike Ricky Adelayitor Ernest Abbeyquaye Nana Mensah Andrew Adote Francis Weddey Fred Nii Amugi Grace Nortey Emmary Brown Nataliah Andoh David Dontoh Cornelius Keagon

Alternative Titles

חיות ללא מדינה, 국적 없는 짐승들, Bestie bez vlasti, Sınırsız Canavarlar, Безродные звери, وحوش بلا وطن, Θηρία Χωρίς Πατρίδα, 비스트 오브 노 네이션, חיות ללא לאום, Безрідні звірі, 无境之兽, Hontalan fenevadak, Bestias sin Patria, Zvijeri nijednog naroda, ビースト・オブ・ノー・ネーション, 無境之獸, Nežinomos šalies žvėrys, เดรัจฉานไร้สัญชาติ

Genres

War Drama

Themes

Intense violence and sexual transgression War and historical adventure Military combat and heroic soldiers Gripping, intense violent crime Graphic violence and brutal revenge Powerful stories of heartbreak and suffering Violent crime and drugs Show All…

Premiere

03 Sep 2015

Italy Venice Film Festival

07 Sep 2015

USA Telluride Film Festival

08 Oct 2015

UK BFI London Film Festival

Theatrical

11 Sep 2015

Canada
Romania18

16 Oct 2015

Germany12
USA

20 Oct 2015

Spain16

Digital

16 Oct 2015

AustraliaMA 15+
Austria
Brazil18
Ecuador
Finland
France16
Ireland15
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands16
Norway
SingaporeR21
South Africa16
South Korea18
Sweden
UK15
USAR

20 Oct 2015

Portugal

05 Jan 2016

Turkey18+

06 Jan 2016

PhilippinesR-18
Poland16

04 Oct 2017

IndiaU/A 16+

05 Oct 2017

Hong Kong
Taiwan

04 Jun 2019

Israel

Australia

16 Oct 2015

DigitalMA 15+ Netflix

Austria

16 Oct 2015

Digital Netflix

Brazil

16 Oct 2015

Digital18 Streaming

Canada

11 Sep 2015

Theatrical

Ecuador

16 Oct 2015

Digital

Finland

16 Oct 2015

Digital Netflix

France

16 Oct 2015

Digital16 Netflix

Germany

16 Oct 2015

Theatrical12

Hong Kong

05 Oct 2017

Digital Netflix

India

04 Oct 2017

DigitalU/A 16+

Ireland

16 Oct 2015

Digital15 Netflix

Israel

04 Jun 2019

Digital Netflix

Italy

03 Sep 2015

Premiere Venice Film Festival

Japan

16 Oct 2015

Digital Netflix

Mexico

16 Oct 2015

Digital Netflix

Netherlands

16 Oct 2015

Digital16 Netflix

Norway

16 Oct 2015

Digital Netflix

Philippines

06 Jan 2016

DigitalR-18 Netflix

Poland

06 Jan 2016

Digital16 Netflix

Portugal

20 Oct 2015

Digital

Romania

11 Sep 2015

Theatrical18

Singapore

16 Oct 2015

DigitalR21 Netflix

South Africa

16 Oct 2015

Digital16 Netflix

South Korea

16 Oct 2015

Digital18 Netflix

Spain

20 Oct 2015

Theatrical16

Sweden

16 Oct 2015

Digital Netflix

Taiwan

05 Oct 2017

Digital Netflix

Turkey

05 Jan 2016

Digital18+ Netflix

UK

08 Oct 2015

Premiere BFI London Film Festival

16 Oct 2015

Digital15 Netflix

USA

07 Sep 2015

Premiere Telluride Film Festival

16 Oct 2015

Theatrical

16 Oct 2015

DigitalR

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Popular reviews

Review by Hamushy ★★★★½ 4

African child soldiers, young boys who fight the causes of powerful men is the subject of this feature film from Cary Joji Fukunaga. Since it was released simultaneously on Netflix and in cinemas it has been boycotted by the largest theatre chains, but I am certain that the film will reach its audience anyway. Taking place in an unnamed war-torn African nation it centers around a young boy named, Agu, who is forced to join one of three warring factions after democracy collapses in his country.
I had very high hopes for Beasts of No Nation which was met with mixed reviews during its film festival run and it did not disappoint at all. First of all, it is an…
Review by davidehrlich ★★★ 1

more City of God than Apocalypse Now, stronger on leadership & indoctrination than madness of war (though a gruesomely sublime 15-minute sequence in the middle aces the latter). Elba and the kid are strong, and CJF certainly has the chops in several different categories, but he couldn't really break this story the way it needed to be broken.
(and Dan Rohmer's ambient M83 synths are way out of place)
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★★★ 5

Director Cary Fukunaga's hard hitting film will knock you clean into next week! The portrayal of Agu's transformation left the viewers shocked beyond belief! For we had become acquainted with the boy earlier in the film and that boy by all accounts was incapable of such brutality!
I liken the process of turning a child into a killing machine to that of being operated on without anesthesia! The subject was painfully aware of every piece of humanity from within being surgically removed bit by bit and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it!
The boy had no choices, no options! The rebels didn't cut boys loose period! It was do or die! He chose life! Something he…
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 2

"The only way not to be fighting anymore is to be dying."
One day, I aim to direct a doc called:
The Synth Score Craze of '15.
(PS: I thought this was extraordinary; what a journey)
(PPS: isn't it kind of weird that Dan Romer composed the scores for both Beasts of No Nation and Beasts of the Southern Wild?)
(PPPS: CARY SHOT THIS HIMSELF!?!?!? what a colossal talent)
"Sun, why are you shining on this world?
I am wanting to catch you in my hands,
to squeeze you, until you cannot shine no more.
That way, everything is always dark, and
nobody's ever having to see all the
terrible things that are happening here."
Review by cinemacl🎃wn ★★★½ 3

I guess the only way Hollywood views Africa is as an entire continent ravaged by nothing but conflict & suffering and in a way, Beasts of No Nation is another exemplification of that. That's not to say that the film doesn't have any merit, for it is definitely a powerful, provocative & compelling piece of work but the entertainment industry's immoderate fascination with the civil war subject is still worth questioning.
Set in an unnamed West African country, the story concerns a young boy named Agu who after witnessing his family being gunned down by soldiers flees from the village but inadvertently runs into the rebel forces and is coerced to join them in their fight. The plot follows Agu's harrowing journey…
Review by Gonzo ★★★★½ 2

▶ jvince's Top Ten Films of 2015: #8
"This... This was all for nothing."
Damn. What a way to kick things off, Netflix. Mark this as a game-changer. In just one film, Netflix shows the present and becomes the future.
Visually ravishing and emotionally ravaging, with Beasts of No Nation, writer/producer/cinematographer/director (yes, he fucking did it all) Cary Fukunaga demonstrates a certain poetic grace and deft assuredness reminiscent of the best. (Comparisons to Terrence Malick and The Thin Red Line is inevitable.) This man has undeniable greatness in him.
Idris Elba is outstanding as the vile and mad Commandant. But the real star here is first-time(!) actor Abraham Attah, who's just flat-out incredible as child soldier and main protagonist, Agu.…
Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★★★ 1

So this baby has been on my queue for so long I’ve completely forgot – I’ll say probably like half a decade or so, and man! How do I regret to not come into this much earlier because this is, as of now, a masterpiece. As the film progressed not only did I get more and more invested, but also I couldn’t stop to comparing it to Apocalypse Now, well what it lacks in its grandiose ambition, compensates in its story, a bleak coming-of-age story that only gets darker and terrifying when you realize none of it its fiction but it actually has had and keeps happening today.
Cary Joji Fukunaga is a director that I have grown to love…
Review by Kevflix And Chill ★★★★

Brutal depiction of child soldiers, stripped of their innocence and thrust into a war without a clear objective. No delineation between good and evil. It’s fairly nuanced in that regard. Fukunaga’s direction and camera work are stellar creating some gorgeous and simultaneously haunting imagery. It’s one of the more harrowing films to experience and reminded me somewhat of Elem Klimov’s Come and See.
Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 2
1. Iris Elba and Ed Harris in Buffalo Soldiers
2. Ed Harris and Kevin Bacon in Apollo 13
Review by PopcornIdeology ★★★★½ 2

One of the best underrated films on Netflix, go watch it if you haven’t seen it. Idris Elba’s best performance easily, also one of the best color graded films I’ve seen. Watch it.

9.4 / 10
Review by benhack ★★★★★ 4

The salvo of prejudice discourse, a potent fussilade into a tangible hysteria, the coarse texture of the soil and warfare seeks the detriment of humanity, the opportune to exploit in a nation where precipitation is only a motion with bullets ricocheting off the parched ground.
The regiment of impressionable spirits.
An allegory to holy nature, a child's ambivalence, a diligent figure assumes the pretence of a deity to the young, an indoctrination for retribution reconciled in a corrupt covenant to hubris slaughter. The innocence of adolescence subjugated for stoicism and precociousness, the commandant manifests a apathetic constitution to his 'men'. Dispositions of ego, toxic masculinity and hardened sensitivity.
Agu isn't special, his presence a more intangible paradigm for the stolen…
Review by Matthew Christman ★★★½

Great cast (Elba is riveting), vivid setting, crisp direction, and yet...
It's hard to see any insights into the phenomenon of child soldiery that you don't get from similarly austere offerings like War Witch. I certainly understand why these horrible bush wars fascinate filmmakers, but the enduring and terrible nature of them demand a point of view more rigorous and penetrating than "shit's fucked up." As tempting at the grunts-eye-view is, relying on it ceded the opportunity to do any more than grimly aestheticize mass human suffering.
Review by Nightwing04 ★★★★★

“We are just like wild animals now, with no place to be going. Sun, why are you shining at this world? I am wanting to catch you in my hands, to squeeze you until you can not shine no more. That way, everything is always dark and nobody's ever having to see all the terrible things that are happening here.”

Gut wrenching, heartbreaking, intimate and brutal. These are just a few of the words I would use to describe Cary Joji Fukanaga’s masterpiece Beasts of No Nation. Fukanaga has been one of my favorite directors ever since I saw him tackle True Detective S1 (which I think is the greatest piece of media in existence). I was excited and pleased…

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Where to watch

Beasts of No Nation

Synopsis

Child. Captive. Killer.

Cast

Director Director

Producers Producers

Writer Writer

Original Writer Original Writer

Editors Editors

Cinematography Cinematography

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Camera Operator Camera Operator

Production Design Production Design

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Composer Composer

Costume Design Costume Design

Studios

Countries

Primary Language

Spoken Languages

Alternative Titles

Genres

Themes

Premiere

03 Sep 2015

07 Sep 2015

08 Oct 2015

Theatrical

11 Sep 2015

16 Oct 2015

20 Oct 2015

Digital

16 Oct 2015

20 Oct 2015

05 Jan 2016

06 Jan 2016

04 Oct 2017

05 Oct 2017

04 Jun 2019

Australia

16 Oct 2015

Austria

16 Oct 2015

Brazil

16 Oct 2015

Canada

11 Sep 2015

Ecuador

16 Oct 2015

Finland

16 Oct 2015

France

16 Oct 2015

Germany

16 Oct 2015

Hong Kong

05 Oct 2017

India

04 Oct 2017

Ireland

16 Oct 2015

Israel

04 Jun 2019

Italy

03 Sep 2015

Japan

16 Oct 2015

Mexico

16 Oct 2015

Netherlands

16 Oct 2015

Norway

16 Oct 2015

Philippines

06 Jan 2016

Poland

06 Jan 2016

Portugal

20 Oct 2015

Director

Producers

Writer

Original Writer

Editors

Cinematography

Executive Producers

Camera Operator

Production Design

Set Decoration

Composer

Costume Design