Review of Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) by Dudefromtulsa — 27 Jul 2012

This movie is brilliant. Raising questions of our responsibility to our fellow man and to the planet we share, Beasts of the Southern Wild allows no easy answers. As her father dies of leukemia, a young girl must learn the spiritual strength to carry on living. Hushpuppy as she's called believes herself so attuned to the world and the animals she can hear them speak to her when she listens closely. She can do the same for people too, as she comforts a dying old man reassuring him with a kind word though he is in a coma and cannot respond. Facing life without her father, however, is too much and she sets out to find her mother.

Does she? Is the woman who comforts her and cooks fried alligator really her mother? Or is her wisdom and kindness the final lesson in Hushpuppy's growth? The characters of this film live in squalor, drinking constantly and eating things many of us wouldn't touch.