For those of us who have never endured the intensity, horror and dehumanization that accompanies a fully-loaded guerilla war, the Netflix original blockbuster Beast of No Nations delivers a powerful punch of truth that is difficult to watch, let alone to believe. But absolutely impossible to forget.

Almost as soon as it debuted on Netflix on Oct. 16, Beasts of No Nations became a critically acclaimed sensation. However, audiences failed to show up in theaters. Fortunately for Netflix, online views climbed to more than 3 million on opening night.

     Beasts follows a young boy, Agu (portrayed by teenage breakout star from Ghana, Abraham Attah) who flees from his home after seeing his father and older brother heinously murdered by guerrillas who split the movie’s unnamed African country into civil war. Not long after his frantic escape, Agu is captured by the Commandant (Academy Award winner Idris Elba), the militant dictator of a rebel army consisting of warrior-trained children.

An adaptation of the 2005 novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala, the film directed by Cary Fukunaga is unsparing with depictions of sexual abuse, malicious murder carried out by innocent children, and drugs that force the sweet and naive toddlers and teenagers to become men of war. What is most discomforting, is the children’s dedication and pride in killing.

Although this movie is hard to swallow on many levels, it is astounding. Even more so, it is important. The brutally stunning performance given by Elba has 2016 Oscar nominee written all over it. Elba’s vibrant speech telling the boys to find what “stands for you” draws the audience into the cause they all fight for, and Attah’s reliance on faith and family values raises the question: how do we know what we are fighting for is ethical?

In a difficult setting like the one portrayed in Beasts of No Nation, answers are impossible to find. The point of the film is not that we find a solution to an unsolvable issue, but that we become aware of the human experience in a condition that starkly contrasts our own and find empathy and compassion within ourselves.