Empire UK

012

N 2016 WE MAY SEE

an Oscar ceremony

in which one of the

front runners has

been seen in cinemas

by only a handful

of people and not

because it’s small and arty and about

something depressing but because it

just isn’t in cinemas. Beasts Of No

Nation the new fi lm from Cary

Fukunaga director of True Detective’s

fi rst season (the really good one) is the

fl ag-bearer in a whole new era for film.

Netfl ix which has already upended the

traditional TV model is looking to

reinvent how and where we watch film.

It used to be that going straight

to the small screen was a sign of a very

bad movie or a movie with very low

ambition but now that most people

do the majority of their fi lm viewing

on a screen at home Netfl ix fi gured

“Why not make a small-screen debut

a prestigious event?”

Making Beasts Of No Nation its first

title (the fi lm will have a very limited

theatrical showing both here and in

the States) is a very defi nite statement

of intent by the US company. It’s an

exquisitely made story of a young boy

in an unnamed African country who

as war rends his family apart fi nds

himself under the dubious care of the

COULD AN OSCAR-WINNER

COME FROM NETFLIX?

INSIDE STORY