Idris Elba and Newcomer Abraham Attah Deliver Gripping Performances in Netflix

Narrowly escaping death, Agu becomes a babe lost in the woods until he’s discovered by the insurgent forces of Commandant (Idris Elba), a charismatic military leader whose men are, for the most part, boys who’ve been brainwashed into becoming ruthless, animalistic killers.

The film will be available in select theaters and on Netflix. The Commandant may not be the central character of Beasts Of No Nation, but he’s the only one that matters, because he represents a vision of something at once horrifying and sickly compelling in a movie that’s short on unifying visions. It’ll take inspiration from the gripping, award-winning novel of the same name by Nigerian scribe Uzodinma Iweala.

You had trouble with shooting the film from the outset? .

“But it’s what I needed to show without it feeling, to me at least, false about the experience that these children have to go through, the things these children are witnessing, the desensitization of these kids, even the adults who participate in these kinds of conflicts”. Ultimately, I don’t want to make things that are just distractions. In an unnamed African nation a bright, carefree boy, Agu ( Abraham Attah), becomes separated from his family during the chaos of a local rebellion, then falls into the hands of an unnamed rebel commandant who terrorizes him, trains him and turns him into a blindly obedient warrior. What challenges does that give you as a filmmaker?

Not only did he and his crew get malaria, but his camera operator pulled a hamstring forcing Fukunaga to do double duty as director and camera op; local actors and drivers extorted him for more money; and Idris Elba nearly fell off a cliff. The film deals boldly with the psychological aspects of brainwashing and propaganda in war. “When I was making Sin Nombre [his 2009 debut], I wouldn’t allow myself to do a sequence like that at all”, he says.

I wish I had a list in front of me of the daily crises we faced. When the USA beat Ghana during the 2014 World Cup finals, none of the local drivers or hotel staff showed up the next day. Instead, you’re like, “Did you see that guy going to war without any trousers on, just letting it all swing?”

Shot on location in Ghana, “Beasts” is the director’s most ambitious undertaking to date both in terms of filming and distribution. This, I suspect, was fewer than that? We need to compete for consumer attention with the experience and the quality of the film, not the preciousness of access. I haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t offer any informed commentary. We’ll figure it out. Like 2013’s best picture victor, 12 Years a Slave, the film is strikingly rendered, technically dazzling, and often gruesomely violent.

You’re describing a very hard shoot, a lot of compromises, a lot of frustrations…

“(If audiences), let’s say my lady fans, will watch this film like, “Oh my God” – job done, as far as I’m concerned.

And how did that feel coming out of “True Detective,” which had gone so well? I’ve done plenty of research and work in unsafe areas. Agu (played by Abraham Attah) is the son of a teacher, and part of a loving family.

I wouldn’t say “True Detective” wasn’t uncompromising either [laughs.] That had a budget and its own challenges. Kubrick made war movies with great scope, but without overwhelming humanity; Kurosawa had sweep and humanity, but always found himself dazzled by the bushido code. That doesn’t make it a disappointment, but it does leave you wondering what might have been.