Beasts of the Southern Wild

The Observer“Stark realism, surrealism and dream intermingle...” The film is variously poetic, mysterious and opaque, a bit like the work of the African director Souleymane Cissé but without the depth. The non-professional actors Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry are persuasive as Hushpuppy and Wink...

The Telegraph“Simply unmissable...” A contained explosion of imaginative feeling, this dippy and spectacular plunge into magic realism has been picking up prizes around the world, and won the Camera d’Or award for best first film at Cannes. It bustles with ideas...

Radio Times“Resolutely one of a kind...” As well as being dramatically and visually engaging, the film conjures a living ecosystem that pulses, grips and ultimately enchants...

Time Out“Pure, naked emotion...” True originals are hard to come by in cinema, but this heart-on-sleeve, deeply eccentric tale of life, love and loss in the flood waters of New Orleans truly merits the label...

The Independent“A deliciously dreamy tale...” There is humour, too, amidst the madness. When the flood finally comes and father and daughter sail through the water of what remains looking for food, a moment where the resilient youngster punches a fish in the face is unexpected to say the least..

Guardian“Non-professional actors tell a mythic tale of survival...” The first significant eco-threat movie to be seen through the eyes of the generation that has inherited global warming. Hushpuppy is a grass-roots warrior, filthy but intrepid... The main performances are the icing on a strange and eccentric cake...

Little White Lies“Smarter than it thinks...” Zeitlin has a lot important things to say... and for the most part he gets his message across with clarity and compassion. But a sub-Arcade Fire score and some Maurice Sendak-style quirkiness takes some of the sting out of Beast's allegorical tail...

Total Film “Fiercely out-of-the-ordinary...” A film that blindsides you with its breathtaking originality and sheer vitality. Part fantasy, part magical-realist melodrama, its secret weapon is Hushpuppy, a human hurricane of a child, seeking answers...

Empire“This is not a standard eco-doom movie... ” Key to it are two astonishing performances by Wallis and Henry, two non-professionals drafted in from the metropolitan areas of New Orleans. Both sink effortlessly into roles that have no template...