Talk about feeling like a complete pile of shit of a human being. Fuck.
The lines and dialogues are so powerful, especially in the scenes when Agu (Abraham Attah) reflects on the brutality of the war as a kid. It is most disturbingly heart-breaking when he compares dead bodies under the sun to a scent of "burnt mango". The process of normalizing violence among the African child soldiers can't be captured more grimly without Idris Elba's impressive performance as the warlord The Commandant. The only little thing the movie seems to lack is on Agu's bonding with Striker, but other than that this movie delivers the life of African child soldier astonishingly.
AGU is powerful with words,
Idris Elba did an amazing job here, well done
Idris Elba deserves the best supporting actor award for this movie.
Started watching this thinking, I think I know what it might be like in that part of Africa. I have seen the news reports and have read some things. I have even talked at length with friends who have made there way here to the US from there. I found out soon I had no clue how it is to survive in that part of the world, this movie is amazing. I felt like i was a witness to this young boys journey in this film. Shocking, Stunning and lost track of time in it. I can't remember one time when I thought a person was acting. Well done. I hope the Actors and Director gets recognized.
Fantastic cinematography & sound, good acting and interesting characters. The problem is that the film tries to present itself as this raw emotional experience, which it kind of is (it’s very bleak), but then it simultaneously makes some cheap, commercial decisions. For example, its use of narration is completely unnecessary, the story is too predictable and tropey, its use of the English language makes little sense (and if you’re gonna go there, just let everyone speak English from the very beginning?), etc.. It certainly makes enough smart decisions to make this an easy recommendation, and there are moments that’ll stick with me for a longer period of time, but this could’ve been one of the best of the year if it made some better creative decisions.
7/10
This was an incredibly hard movie to watch. Idris played a real monster in this movie. Was quite uncomfortable for me.
This is one of the best films I have ever seen and the depiction of war in African countries is just so extremely accurate showing how the people at the top just pull the strings and unfortunately innocent people (especially children) get bought into these wars and lose everything in life including their friends and family for very sad and selfish reasons. Abraham Attah (Agu) is just so captivating in his role and not once did I feel like I was watching someone act, I felt his characters struggle the entire way through the film and at moments his performance had me in tears.
But the actor who made this film is Idris Elba (Commandant) who up until this point I liked him but never viewed him as one of the greatest actors, he was incredible in this film and deserved more recognition as he depicts this commander of a rebel group so perfectly having seen lots of documentaries showing how these rebel groups operate and like the main character I sometimes just felt like I was watching a real-life person and not an actor.
I urge you to watch this film as it is a very important film and the entire way through the film I found myself gnashing at my nails with how nervous I was at certain moments.
Good story of the horrors of war!
Actually, we live in a terrible world!
Found it boring, couldn't get into it, turned it off after half an hour.
Interesting movie. Makes you think about things that you would rather not think about. The world can certainly be a nasty place to live in.
Heart wrenching, amazing direction and acting combined with a gripping story - truly gives you a new appreciation for the subject at hand.
This is a movie that should be seen by everybody.
Amazing but terrible movie as well. Hits very hard.
you can't take your eyes off even when it's hard to watch
An excellent movie, at times you forget you're watching a movie and not a documentary. It was so heart-wrenching. There were quite a few times I was in tears.
Excellent acting, touching story. The horrific sight of child war.
Good Soundtrack, moving, history and direct, but i had a throught it's missing something...
Great Film. Moving and direct...
A hard watch, but a good one with some great acting.
Well-written script, great performance by Abraham Attah and Edris Alba
Shout by DenisBlockedParent2021-05-17T08:01:15Z
An under-rated movie. We need more stories from Africa with this much depth.