Cinafilm has over 5 million movie reviews and counting …
Sitemap
Search

Last updated: 09 Jun 2026 at 01:33 UTC

Back to movie details

Review of by Metamotivcritic — 07 Jul 2012

Share
Tweet

A messy and sometimes excessive movie, but also a very powerful and affecting one. Part children's fantasy (a la Where the Wild Things Are), part social commentary (a la The Grapes of Wrath), and part anthropological study of an alien culture, it's also an almost archetypal story of (as corny as it sounds) the indominability of the human spirit, and in particular, that of the child.

Quvenzhane Wallis may not be a great actress, but for a 5 year old she certainly has an uncanny screen presence and holds the disparate parts of the movie together (almost).. Some great visuals (e.g.

, the image of Hushpuppy holding sparklers in either hand) and an effective score make the movie a sensory pleasure as well as a triumph of story telling. Of course, I could have done without the "confrontation of the Aurochs" scene; but hey, it's a low budget, debut film by a promising independent film director.

This review of Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) was written by on 07 Jul 2012.

Beasts of the Southern Wild has generally received very positive reviews.

Was this review helpful?

Yes
No

More Reviews of Beasts of the Southern Wild

More reviews of this movie

Reviews of Similar Movies

More Reviews

Share This Page

Share
Tweet

Popular Movies Right Now

Movies You Viewed Recently

Get social with CinafilmFollow us for reviews of the latest moviesCinafilm - TwitterCinafilm - PinterestCinafilm - RSS