BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Starring Quvenzhan茅 Wallis, Dwight Henry
Directed by Benh Zeitlin
Even with the glut of CGI-laden blockbusters littering multiplex screens, you wont find a better showcase of beguiling worldbuilding, arresting visuals, and ambitious filmmaking than Benh Zeitlins first feature. The rare film to legitimately warrant the descriptor spellbinding, its finest moments remind us of just how transcendent the moviegoing experience should be.
A heady mix of both magic and social realism, Beasts introduces us to the storybook world of The Bathtub through Hushpuppy (the extraordinary Quvenzhan茅 Wallis), a six-year-old resident of the down-at-the-heels Louisiana island community. Left unsupervised by her ailing father Wink (Dwight Henry), Hushpuppy carouses in her trailer-turned-treehouse, tends to her menagerie of animals, and mixes with other misfits. When a Katrina-like hurricane devastates The Bathtub and Winks health worsens, Hushpuppy embarks on a heroic quest that ultimately leads her to the threshold of adulthood.
Feeling somewhat like an apocalyptic take on Mark Twain, the combination of domestic drama and natural catastrophe also make this a worthy companion piece to last years Take Shelter. However, whereas Jeff Nichols film took its tonal cues from its central characters crippling paranoia, this uniquely American fable is driven by its protagonists boundless imagination.
Zeitlin and co-writer Lucy Alibar not only keenly recall how every new childhood experience is an adventure but also how kids often construct elaborate stories to help them cope with harsh realities. Given her monumental hardships, Hushpuppy must spin a narrative of epic proportions. Meanwhile, we have the good fortune of glimpsing the world through her eyes and reacquainting ourselves with unadulterated wonder and endless possibility. Its an opportunity not to be missed. Curtis Woloschuk
