Wink, we learn, is preparing Hushpuppy for a life without him (a prospect that is even more awful after we hear her say she “can count all the times I’ve been lifted on two fingers”). You ache for this girl and what she’s facing, partly because of the authenticity that Wallis brings, but also because she has come to stand in for an entire world in crisis. How can any of us survive in the face of disaster? Must we behave like beasts in order to do so? Does mercy have a role?
In its most moving moments, Beasts of the Southern Wild answers yes to the latter question. “You got to take care of people smaller and sweeter than you are,” Hushpuppy’s teacher tells her at one point, a lesson carried through in the delicate way she picks up a chick to listen to its heartbeat…
Read the rest of the review at Larsen on Film.
You can also read Fuller student and Sundance class participant Tom Sharp’s reflection on the film here, and you can read our report on the film in our Sundance recap here.
