Synopsis:
A young boy, Agu, lives in a small West African village with his parents and siblings, located within a "buffer zone" enforced by ECOMOG troops. The village is informed that the government has fallen and military-aligned rebels have seized control of the country. With rebel forces headed towards the village, many people flee to the country's capital for safety. Agu's father buys safe transport for his wife and two youngest children, but has to stay behind with Agu and his eldest son. Rebel and government forces fight in and around Agu's village. While the rebel soldiers flee, government forces round up the remaining villagers and execute them, but Agu escapes into the jungle.
After wandering for a while, Agu is caught up in a guerrilla skirmish. The Native Defense Forces (NDF), a rising rebel faction in the country, adopt Agu into their ranks. Agu's battalion is led by the Commandant, who takes Agu under his wing. Following a brutal initiation process where Agu hacks an innocent captive to death with a machete, Agu becomes a fully-fledged member of the militia. Agu befriends another young NDF child soldier, Strika, who never speaks. One night, the Commandant summons Agu to his quarters and rapes him. Strika, another of the Commandant's rape victims, comforts him. Preacher, an older soldier, gives Agu brown-brown to lift his mood. Agu and Strika take part in a number of bloody battles and ambushes. During one of the raids Agu, under the influence of brown-brown, mistakes a villager for his mother. He exclaims that he found her and clings to her while the other members of the group declare they want to rape her. The woman does not recognize Agu and he calls her a witch woman. Agu then shoots the woman while she is being raped.
The battalion's many victories earn them a summons to the rebel headquarters, where the Commandant, accompanied by Agu, Strika, and a few other soldiers, go to meet with the NDF leader, Dada Goodblood. Goodblood, who stresses the importance of public image in the wake of the conflict becoming world news, denies the Commandant his promised promotion to General, and removes him from command. The Commandant's lieutenant, Two I-C, will take control of the battalion, and the Commandant will be made Deputy Chief of Security under the leader. The Commandant views this as an insult, and leaves to "celebrate" with his men at a brothel. While the adult soldiers spend the night with the brothel's women, one of the women shoots Two I-C. Two I-C accuses the Commandant of orchestrating the incident before dying, while the Commandant insists it must have been a botched attempt against himself. The prostitute professes that it was an accident, but the Commandant and his men shoot the women and leave the city.
Now on the run from their own faction as well as their enemies, the battalion suffers heavy losses. Air strikes and supply shortages kill Strika and many others. The survivors take shelter at a gold mine for several months, hoping to find gold to pay for supplies. Ammunition runs out, leaving the group with no way to defend themselves from encroaching enemy forces. Following a confrontation between a frustrated Preacher and paranoid Commandant, Agu and the soldiers all abandon the Commandant to surrender, ignoring his warnings that they will merely be thrown in jail and disowned by their families. Shortly after, they are detained by UN troops.
The younger members of the battalion are sent to a missionary school in a safe part of the country, while Preacher and Randy decide to run away to rejoin the war. Agu avoids the other children, who play games and enjoy the comfort and safety of the school. Agu suffers from drug withdrawal and is tormented by what has happened and has nightmares about it. Eventually, Agu tells the school's counselor that he has done some terrible things, which he fears will make her see him as a "beast". Instead he tells of how he used to be a good boy from a family who loved him. The final scene shows Agu finally joining the other boys as they swim and play in the ocean.
Cast:
- Abraham Attah as Agu
- Idris Elba as Commandant
- Ama K. Abebrese as Mother
- Kobina Amissa-Sam as Father
- Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye as Strika
- Kurt Egyiawan as 2nd I-C
- Jude Akuwudike as Dada Goodblood
- Grace Nortey as Old Witch Woman
- David Dontoh as Linguist
- Opeyemi Fagbohungbe as Sergeant Gaz
- Teibu Owusu Acheampong as Preacher
- Fred Amugi as Pastor
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