Review of Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) by Diego T — 08 Jul 2013

So, here's the thing: I didn't expect much from this film. However, it's my girlfriend's favorite of all time, so... it's difficult for me to give this an honest review without being a tad biased. On the other hand, this was a pretty fucking good movie, featuring calm, level-headed performances, great set design, and a distinct lack of the special effects extravaganzas that we know and hate.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a film (not a true story, but based on thousands of ones just like it) about a group of people living in a bayou community in what we assume to be Louisiana. The town, AKA The Bathtub, is soon inundated with water as a storm hits and the sea level begins to rise. In this way, it's both a message about global warming and a bit of a 'FUCK YOU' to FEMA for not getting their shit together for Hurricane Katrina.

Everyone is thinking it, so I will just say it: Quvenzhané Wallis has essentially set the bar for child actors. I don't recall ever being so blown away by a kid's performance than I was in this film. Of course, in a field that includes Jake Lloyd and that insufferable kid from Hugo, it's not hard to stand out-- but holy crap, this kid can act. She's almost reminiscent of Ryan Gosling's performance in Drive, in that she can convey the deepest emotion with a blank facial expression. It's stunning. I would not be shocked if she grows up to be one of the leading Hollywood actresses of our generation.

The rest of the cast performs quite well. The director chose wisely in not casting well-known actors in these roles, as that would have destroyed the entire reality that the film was trying to create. But speaking of destroying realities... this film is all over the place, and one of the recurring themes is a "Busted Universe", or what I would call a "Hole in the Plotline" or "Plot Hole." The busted universe is a reference to how people's worlds can end at any time-- at the end of the film (spoiler alert), Hushpuppy's world ends when her father dies. Confusing shit.

In fact, I don't recall being this confused by a movie for some time, which I'm pretty pleased with. You don't get many challenging films from Hollywood these days, in a field populated by Michael Bays and Jerry Bruckheimers. So, anyway... this is where the film can really lose you. At the beginning of the film, Hushpuppy is in a classroom learning about extinct creatures and how they failed to adapt. Throughout the film, we're treated to shots of giant extinct piglike creatures, called Aurochs, marching towards The Bathtub.

This is some intense symbolism, and I think you can take away from it whatever you want to, so... if you want to formulate your own theory, stop reading. But what I personally took it to mean was that everything must adapt or die. Hushpuppy's father couldn't adapt to life outside The Bathtub, so where does he wind up at the end of the film? Dead. Of course, I'm sure you could find symbolism in this film for whatever the fuck you want, including religion, mysticism, and evolution.

Final Score for Beasts of the Southern Wild: 8/10 stars. Altogether a solid film that (although a little boring occasionally) definitely delivers in its promise of being an otherworldly experience. If Life of Pi hadn't come out in 2012 also, I would have said that this was the best fantasy film of the year.