After receiving critical acclaim for playing South African leader Nelson Mandela in last year's Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Idris Elba is going in a completely opposite direction with his new film Beasts of No Nation. The first photo has been released from the set, showcasing Idris Elba as Commandant, the leader of a group of guerilla fighters who recruit a young boy named Agu, shortly after his father is killed. Take a look at the photo, then read on for more information.

Beasts of No Nation Idris Elba Photo

We first reported on this drama back in April, when Idris Elba signed on to star. Cary Fukunaga, who directed every episode of HBO's True Detective, is directing from his own adapted screenplay, based on the novel written by Uzodinma Iweala. Daniela Taplin Lundberg and Riva Marker are producing Beasts of No Nation, which is currently shooting in Ghana.

Take a look at the full synopsis for Beasts of No Nation below.

Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African nation, is recruited into a unit of guerrilla fighters as civil war engulfs his country. Haunted by his father's own death at the hands of militants, which he fled just before witnessing, Agu is vulnerable to the dangerous yet paternal nature of his new commander. While the war rages on, Agu becomes increasingly divorced from the life he had known before the conflict started - a life of school friends, church services, and time with his family still intact. As he vividly recalls these sunnier times, his daily reality spins further downward into inexplicable brutality, primal fear, and loss of selfhood. His relationship with his commander deepens even as it darkens, and his camaraderie with a fellow soldier lends a deceptive sense of normalcy to his experience.