Beasts of No Nation

Viscerally drawing attention to the plight of African child soldiers, Kim Nguyen s 2012 drama War Witch was rewarded with critical raves and a foreign language Oscar nod, but was seen by precious few beyond the festival circuit. Emmy winning director Cary Fukunaga s take on similar thematic material will draw a whole lot more eyeballs, thanks to the presence of Idris Elba as a fearsome mercenary commandant and, of course, a simultaneous theatrical and VOD release via Netflix. It seems a gutsy choice of guinea pig for an exciting new distribution model.