Movie Review - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Starring Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry

Directed by Benh Zeitlin

Although you may not have heard of the little indie flick Beasts of the Southern Wild, rest assured that this film is the hot topic amongst cinephiles in the midst of this big budget-filled summer.  The Oscar buzz is already circling this debut feature of Benh Zeitlin featuring a cast of virtual unknowns, the huge majority of which are starring in their first film.  Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure the praises heaped upon this at its Sundance Film Festival premiere, its Camera d'Or best first feature film award win at Cannes, and its subsequent overwhelmingly positive critical reception are warranted.

In the Louisiana bayou is a place known as "The Bathtub" -- a small island community that is nearly completely blocked off from the rest of the United States attempting to live and without the everyday necessities we deem integral to our lives.  Us folks on the dry land are too caught up in the hectic hullabaloo of our fast-paced lives and the residents of "The Bathtub" have learned to appreciate the slower pace of things.  Our glimpse into this community comes via young Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), a young six year-old tomboyish girl whose mother left her at an infant and whose father (Dwight Henry), in between the bouts of heavy drinking (which is de rigueur amongst the Bathtub townies), epitomizes the meaning of tough love trying to help his daughter learn the lay of the land as he finds himself growing sicker and sicker with each passing day.

When a huge storm hits Louisiana (which we can all presume is Hurricane Katrina although that natural disaster is never mentioned), many residents of "The Bathtub" abandon the area, but a select few including Hushpuppy and her father stick it out and survive.  They soon find themselves facing the possible end of their simple existence.

The film seemingly is full of heartbreaking reality, but also abounding with the imaginative fairy tales of a young girl and I'm quite certain that the fantasy world is supposed to connect with the real world in some fashion.  In fact, I can one hundred percent guarantee that this movie is filled with all kinds of metaphors, but I'm not really sure what they all stand for.  And I'm not really sure I care.  Granted, I certainly was thinking about the flick after the movie ended, but it lacked the heart that a movie like this should have in order to make it truly enduring and endearing.  I never found myself connecting at all with young Hushpuppy and her poetic voiceover narration, her father, or the citizens of the Bathtub.  While I don't think it's the fault of the untrained and fresh cast who bring a sense of naturalism to the whole affair, there's something here that doesn't quite mesh.

Director Benh Zeitlin has crafted an oddly pretty looking film, but I can't help but think that he got lost somewhere between the reality and fantasy he attempts to bring together.  Neither world is successfully combined to create a cohesive whole as the increasingly overbearing heaviness of reality fails to balance with the Where the Wild Things Are-stylized imaginings of the young Hushpuppy, ultimately leading to a film that doesn't work as well as the Oscar bloggers and the majority of the big-time critics would have you believe.

The RyMickey Rating:  C