One of the handful of films hitting a trio of the first fall festivals is the latest from Cary Fukunaga. After premiering at Venice Film Festival, where we caught it, it’ll stop by Telluride and TIFF shortly, and to keep the ball rolling, Netflix has released the full-length trailer for the drama, following the teaser.
Led by Idris Elba, Uzodinma Iweala‘s story, adapted by Fukunaga, centers on a young boy, Agu, who, when civil war engulfs his West African country, is forced to join a unit of mercenary fighters. Agu must not only face the death of his father and disappearance of his mother and sister, but also join a life of violence and brutality, which is where Elba’s character figures in.
We said in our review, “If there were any question marks still floating over Cary Fukunaga’s credentials, his latest film, Beasts of No Nation, should flick them aside with ease. Based on the acclaimed novel by American writer Uzodinma Iweala and boasting staggering performances from both of its lead players, Abraham Attah and Idris Elba, Fukunaga has delivered one of the most viscerally stylized war films in recent memory. The Africa-set drama is a relentlessly violent, vibrant, and electric film that is at once as druggy and entrancing as Coppola’s 1979 cut of Apocalypse Now and as sonically inventive as Elem Klimov’s Come and See.”
Check out the trailer and poster below.
Beasts of No Nation hits limited release and Netflix on October 16th.