Thoughts on Beasts of No Nation (2015)?

Dennis Martin6 said:The kid isn't even the main focus here. The whole movie just gives this super vague, surface-level look at what war does to a child, which I guess is how your average person imagines it anyway. They could've used some actual narration to ground things, but instead, they wasted it all on those pathetic little conversations the boy has with Bob. And honestly, that’s the biggest kicker: the entire film feels like a cheap knockoff of a Terrence Malick flick. It doesn't have its own soul, so everything that happens just feels fake and staged.

And who was he even talking to when he was totally alone?
I mean, let's be real—he was just talking to himself.
But hey, since he got swallowed up by the meat grinder of war, I guess those weird little interludes aren't totally out of place.

Dennis Martin6 said:Weren't those conversations with Bob kind of pretentious? Like, wouldn't sitting through 140 minutes of that get super boring?

Not really, and definitely not boring. I mean, sure—I did mention parts of the movie felt a bit dragged out—but honestly, those scenes where they're talking to Bob didn't bother me at all.

Such an incredible movie. Honestly, it’s a tough one to sit through... pretty heavy stuff. I really think Idris Elba gave us his best performance yet, and young Abraham Attah was just brilliant! 👍

Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond were both top-tier movies, so I've got high hopes for this one too.

Great movie. It’s definitely one of the best films I’ve ever seen. 5/5

Stumbled onto this flick yesterday—since I watched Apocalypse Now less than a year ago, I couldn't help but link Idris Elba back to that Colonel Kurtz role played by Marlon Brando.

SPOILERS:
The stuff that really sticks with me is when that kid had to kill his first person with a machete... specifically that shot where the blade just sort of sinks into the skull because the kid isn't even strong enough to split it open on the first swing. Gross. Thankfully, after the second hit, they cut away from the guy and just showed the boys relentlessly hacking away at him.
The ending feels pretty unrealistic to me, though—I mean, I doubt a kid who went through all that trauma could actually be rehabilitated like that.