Cinema Review – Beasts of the Southern Wild

First-time Director Benh Zietlin has certainly been making some waves this year. First at Sundance Festival and then closely followed up at Cannes, his fantasy set against a post-Katrina Louisiana has been getting accolades left, right and centre. Heralded for its fantastic cinematography BEASTS is indeed majestic with strong performances, but at times feels a little thin on actual story.

The film tells the tale of a town called Bathtub. Set off the coast of Louisiana the town is almost forgotten about by the rest of the world and because of its tendency to flood it is deemed to dangerous to live in by modern society. Yet the town is thriving, full of the outcasts and misfits that humanity left at the curb. Amongst them is a wild haired 6-year-old girl named ‘Hushpuppy’, played by Quvenzhané Wallis. Hushpuppy is schooled in the skills of survival and self-sufficiency, a lesson that is underlined by the tale of Aurochs who roamed the land long ago and ate children in front of their helpless parents.

Hushpuppy is raised solely by her near alcoholic father, Wink. He is constantly disgruntled and shouting, maybe it is just the heat, maybe it is something else, either way he is not the warmest of parents. Hushpuppy soothes herself by having conversations with her Mother whom she has never met.

Hushpuppy is full with wonder for the world, her imagination is large enough to make huge horned beasts that have defrosted from the polar ice caps and now marching their way to the Bathtub as real as the looming storm that threatens to destroy her world. Hushpuppy cannot understand why the people fail to see the world in the way that she does. This includes Wink, who seems to be hiding a secret from her that makes him even more grumpy and withdrawn at a time when they should be embracing and running for cover.

Zeitlin has indeed managed to carve out a Cinematic marvel. The world which he presents us with is fantastical and surreal yet it has nothing to do with sci-fi or wizardry. It is more to do with the beasts that dwell within our own psyche and humanity in general. The entire film is like a dream that is real yet slightly off centre in the way only dreams can be.

Wallis’ performance comes out of nowhere and hits you hard. She is the heart and soul of this film and is set for a big future in the film industry.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a film to get lost in, full of fantasy and yet seems real enough to be true. Perfect lazy afternoon film.