Variety
A stunning debut that finds its dandelion-haired heroine fighting rising tides and fantastic creatures in a mythic battle against modernity.
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Beasts of the Southern Wild
In this Sundance and Cannes-winning drama, six-year-old Hushpuppy searches for her lost mother in swampland off the Louisiana coast, set against the backdrop of an environmental catastrophe that's unleashed an army of prehistoric creatures.
Hushpuppy (newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis) lives with her father in a southern Delta community cut off from the rest of the world. But when his health suddenly deteriorates, nature also tips out of balance and the girl is forced to go in search of her mother while the planet faces melting ice caps, rising temperatures and the impending threat of the creatures called 'aurochs'.
Less2012Rating: M, contains violence & horror91 minsUSA
Drama
- Director:
- Benh Zeitlin (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Lucy AlibarBenh Zeitlin
- Cast:
- Quvenzhané WallisDwight HenryLevy EasterlyLowell LandesPamela HarperGina MontanaAmber HenryJonshel Alexander
Beasts of the Southern Wild | Awards
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2012. Caméra d'Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival 2012.
Beasts of the Southern Wild | Reviews
86%209 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Total Film
Despite its hard-scrabble setting, eco-gloominess and dystopian story, this dark fairytale is engagingly vivid and life-affirming. An ambitious love letter to a Louisiana way of life that's being literally washed away.
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Time Magazine
Mark down the date: June 27. That's when American moviegoers will see this perfect storm of a film, and the tiny force of nature that is Quvenzhané Wallis.
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The Guardian
Beasts of the Southern Wild is a vividly poetic and maybe even therapeutic response to one of the most painful and mortifying episodes in modern American history, second only to 9/11.
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Rolling Stone
There's no way you won't be captivated by Wallis, chosen ahead of 3,500 candidates to play the tiny folk hero who narrates the story. Her performance in this deceptively small film is a towering achievement.
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Roger Ebert
Sometime miraculous films come into being, made by people you've never heard of, starring unknown faces, blindsiding you with creative genius. Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of the year's best films.
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Hollywood Reporter
An exceptional American independent feature that deserves the best efforts to tap audiences that would surely embrace it.
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Empire Magazine
Beautiful, funny, timely and tender, this is the American arthouse movie of the year.
Full reviewBeasts of the Southern Wild | Release Details
Beasts of the Southern Wild is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Apple TV and Academy On Demand and AroVision.