War! What Is It Good For? Apparently, Extremely Compelling Films…

19. Beasts of No Nation

Image Source: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

From the outset, Cary Fukunaga’s searing study of corrupted youth makes it clear you’re in a safe pair of directorial hands. Fukunaga brings flair, muscular storytelling, directness, and a persuasively epic sweep to this brutal, heartrending movie about child soldiers and a civil war in an imaginary West African country. When the film kicks into gear, we witness 12-year-old Agu (Abraham Attah) lose his family in the most traumatic manner imaginable. He then falls under the influence of a dangerously charismatic warlord known as the Commandant (Idris Elba).