Beasts of the Southern Wild

Directed by Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild tells the story of 6-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and the life she leads in the rural Louisiana community called The Bathtub. Her life is difficult at the best of times, especially since her mother left her in the care of her deeply troubled and physically ill father (Dwight Henry), but Hushpuppy gets along fine, as much a creature of the nature that surrounds her as the world of the other people in the town. When a fierce storm floods the town, Hushpuppy is forced to find a way to survive on her own. It may take you a while to surrender to the story; this is Zeitlin’s first feature film and he’s refreshingly unhindered by any traditional notion of what a movie should or shouldn’t be. It’s a visually stunning film, too, but it’s also clear that every image on the screen means something: They aren’t just pretty pictures. The same goes for just about every word spoken by the talented cast, most of whom are making their film debut in Beasts, debuts that could very well have some of them attending the Oscars this year (along with Zeitlin) as nominees.