Director Benh Zeitlin brings quite the experience on such a limited budget. Reportedly around $1.3 million, he pulls off some amazing visuals, which are probably helped that there are only a handful of visual effects, mostly involving the aurochs. Cinematographer Ben Richardson helps out by keeping things on a documentary level, which only makes Hushpuppy’s hard reality ring even truer. And as for Hushpuppy, young Quvenzhané Wallis certainly holds her own. Feisty yet fragile, Wallis throws herself into the role proving her a force to be reckoned with. The title may make you think there’s more literal “beasts” roaming through the film, but what we find out is that it just may be all of us who are Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Fox Searchlight Pictures
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