Beasts of No Nation

"Child. Captive. Killer."

2015 2h 17m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 1,940

DramaWar

Synopsis

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Based on the experiences of Agu, a child fighting in the civil war of a West African country. Follows Agu's journey as he's forced to join a group of soldiers. While he 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.

“Child. Captive. Killer.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Abraham Attah
Agu
Idris Elba
Commandant
Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye
Strika
Opeyemi Fagbohungbe
Sergeant Gaz
Emmanuel Affadzi
Dike
Richard Pepple
Father Friday
Ama K. Abebrese
Mother
Kobina Amissah-Sam
Father

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Writers: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Languages: Akan, English
Countries: Brazil, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Akan, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Brazil, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, shot by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dan Romer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Abraham Attah and Idris Elba and Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Child. Captive. Killer.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Cary Joji Fukunaga directs. Cary Joji Fukunaga behind the camera. Dan Romer scores. Mikkel E.G. Nielsen cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Brazil, United States of America. Dialogue in Akan, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 11 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Akan, English.
3International production across 2 countries: Brazil, United States of America.
4Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, shot by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Dan Romer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Abraham Attah and Idris Elba and Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Child. Captive. Killer.".
9IMDB entry: tt1365050 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "guerrilla warfare", "civil war", "based on novel or book", "africa".

The technical file

Cinematography: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Original score: Dan Romer
Editing: Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
Production design: Inbal Weinberg
Costume design: Jenny Eagan
Runtime: 137 min · 2h 17m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $9,077,700
Return: 151% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Beasts of No Nation (2015)

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Cary Joji Fukunaga

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-07-20
★ 7/10
"Agu" (Abraham Attah) is a young lad who witnesses at first hand the violence that is sweeping his rural community and with his family and village decimated by marauding bandits, he finds himself under the command of a man who is as brutal as he is shrewd (Idris Elba). He knows how to instill a culture of fear into his new recruits and he also knows how to weed out those whom he deems too weak or too squeamish from his army of newly indoctrinated children. Quite quickly, the shock that initially affected "Agu" begins to become tempered by his own inate survival instincts, and he is soon wielding a machete and a Kalashnikov like the rest of the older boys - for whom life means little and the struggle all. I think quite sensibly for Cary Joji Fukunaga, he's avoided naming the country or, indeed, the leader of this squadron - indeed the very lack of names attributed to many of the characters as we progress through this wartorn land does a lot to effectively present us with quite a dehumanised experience. These are children who ought to be in school and playing - not being taught how to strip a rifle, plant a land mine or take a sword to the head of another human being; yet "Agu" is but one of a supposed 100,000 in West Africa recruited, forcibly, to fight for a cause. This isn't just a depiction of murder and destruction, though. This is also takes a look at some of the less questionable reasons why these kids remain loyal to the cause. They learn to feel a sense of purpose, of being needed and wanted. Many are no longer hungry or abandoned and for the first time some do feel like they have a family that relies on them as much as they do it. The visuals are captivating - both in human terms and in terms of showing us the astonishing and indiscriminate damage that modern weaponry can inflict; and it also shows us that power, adrenalin and rapid-fire guns often go hand in hand at the expense of thought, right or wrong. The assembled cast, especially the youngsters, deliver something harrowingly plausible here - as does an Elba who exudes a flawed sort of menace that made me think that perhaps his own character was "acquired" in similar circumstances to "Agu", but it's that most personable effort from Attah that shows a confidence that belies his young years and really draws us in. This isn't an easy film to watch, but it's tale of the weaponisation of children makes it a compelling one.

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