--- title: "Beasts of the Southern Wild: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/beasts-of-the-southern-wild/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/beasts-of-the-southern-wild" critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 23 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): what the critics said Critics' score 81 from 23 reviews: 19 positive, 2 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Beasts of the Southern Wild, praising its child’s-eye view of bayou life and its blend of harsh conditions with magical fantasy. Praise centres on Quvenzhané Wallis, whose performance gives the film an emotional centre, and on the handmade community Benh Zeitlin brings to the screen. The reviews repeatedly admire the vivid imagery, imaginative narration and feeling for survival, family and independence. The spread is wide, however, with reservations about loose storytelling extending into doubts about the film’s treatment of poverty. Even some admirers find sentimentality, unevenness or underdeveloped emotional scenes. Slant Magazine sees a risk of condescension but finds understanding in the child’s perspective. The Skinny is less persuaded, finding that the fantasy sits awkwardly within the story and that key scenes lack emotional conviction. The central divide is over how far the performances and images compensate for the ramshackle structure. ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 5/5. 12 October 2012. The critic hails the film as a true original, a heart-on-sleeve eccentric tale of life on the margins adapted by first-time director Benh Zeitlin. It offers a dreamy child's-eye view of bayou existence that mixes gritty social realism with magical, musical fantasy full of poetry and pain. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/beasts-of-the-southern-wild) ## Empire — Damon Wise Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 September 2012. This eccentric low-budget film is an empowerment story about survival, roots and community in abject circumstances, with astonishing performances from non-professional leads. It is beautiful, funny, timely and tender, the American arthouse movie of the year. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/beasts-southern-wild-review/) ## Film Comment — Amy Taubin Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 February 2012. Festival review. The critic hails the film as a visionary debut that creates an entirely new world on screen through passionate conviction and masterful film language. She singles out the child's imaginative narration and the tactile, tender depiction of survival in a precarious natural and human environment for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/in-search-of-wild-things-amy-taubin-at-sundance-2012/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 January 2012. Festival review. The film is a poetic evocation of an endangered way of life and a paean to human resilience and self-reliance. It casts a spell through its handcrafted world and the extraordinary performance of young lead Quvenzhané Wallis. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/beasts-southern-wild-sundance-film-283801/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2012. Festival review. The film is a dreamy, hypnotic tale about a young girl in a Louisiana bayou community facing disaster, defying logical criticism like a poem. It features phenomenal performances from non-professional leads and offers a beautiful glimpse of a vanishing world. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/beasts-of-the-southern-wild-bfi-london-film-festival-8208675.html) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic’s Pick. 27 June 2012. The critic hails the film as a passionate, unruly explosion of Americana that celebrates freedom and community spirit. The young heroine Hushpuppy stands out as a charismatic force of nature who anchors the story's blend of magic realism and raw emotion. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/movies/beasts-of-the-southern-wild-directed-by-benh-zeitlin.html) ## IndieWire — James Rocchi Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 26 June 2012. The film is a pagan, powerful work that celebrates autonomy and a young girl's imaginative engagement with her harsh environment. It stands out for its ability to evoke cinema's capacity to bring the magical and believable into existence. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-the-south-will-rise-but-not-like-you-expected-in-the-pagan-powerful-beasts-of-the-southern-wild-251625/) ## The New Yorker — David Denby Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 29 June 2012. The review calls the film a joyous, raucous and alive work that captures the vibrant, defiant spirit of its off-the-grid community. It stands out as a vibrant, dream-haunted vision without anthropological dryness. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/beasts-of-the-southern-wild) ## Los Angeles Times — Betsy Sharkey Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 26 July 2012. The critic finds the film extraordinary for its indelible characters and fusion of fable with soulful reality, driven by a fierce young heroine. It is praised as a remarkably skilled debut that empowers through imagination amid hardship. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-jul-26-la-et-beasts-of-the-southern-wild-20120627-story.html) ## Radio Times — Andrew Collins Rating 4/5. This marvellous, one-of-a-kind bayou fable centres on the resilient relationship between a stoic six-year-old girl and her gruff father in a self-sufficient Delta community facing literal and metaphorical storms. The first-time director impressively juggles magical fantasy with hard-bitten realism in an earthy, enchanting depiction of life outside globalised society. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-cvjb6m/beasts-of-the-southern-wild/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Rating 4/5. 18 October 2012. The film is a vividly poetic and energetic response to Hurricane Katrina and climate catastrophe, blending apocalyptic Southern Gothic with Malick-inspired visuals. It praises the ambition, verve and performances while noting some sentimental and self-conscious elements. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/18/beast-southern-wild-review) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Rating 3/4. 24 June 2012. The father-daughter relationship is hauntingly rendered as a knot of animosity and tough love amid a synthesis of realist and magical-realist impulses. The film flirts with condescension in its portrayal of poverty and supporting characters but ultimately delivers heartbreaking understanding through the child's perspective. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/beasts-of-the-southern-wild/) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). Festival review. The review describes a stunning debut with richly textured world-building and an emotionally wrenching parable of a girl battling tides and modernity. It notes a meandering quality but highlights the mythic battle and poetic voiceover. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2012/film/reviews/beasts-of-the-southern-wild-1117946874/) ## Vulture — David Edelstein Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 28 June 2012. Zeitlin creates a mythic odyssey suffused with eco-anxiety that recalls Terrence Malick, but it does not always live up to its pretensions with unshaped elements and overused music. The standout is the little girl's face and one transcendent scene of unexpected connection. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2012/06/movie-review-beasts-of-the-southern-wild.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 20 January 2012. Festival review. Zeitlin has created an imaginative and bold vision filled with memorable images in this idiosyncratic debut about a young girl's life in a poverty-stricken, surreal bayou community facing storms and fantastical threats. The critic finds it original and watchable as a curiosity but notes the loosely structured narrative and distant characters prevent it from being fully coherent or emotionally inhabitable. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/-beasts-of-the-southern-wild/5036762.article) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 March 2014. The film celebrates the defiant spirit of bayou people surviving eco-disaster through a rough, authentic style and extraordinary child performance, but ultimately fails to make sense with its eco-piety and workshop-like elements becoming too much. Its charm does not sustain the ramshackle structure on second viewing. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/beasts-of-the-southern-wild-12a-cert-93min-review-8218002.html) ## HeyUGuys — Ben Mortimer Rating 5/5. 5 November 2012. The film is a rarity that makes the viewer want to watch it again immediately. It blends compelling fantasy with a clear political message to create something that transcends both, with particular praise for the world it builds and the astonishing performances by its non-actor leads. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/beast-of-the-southern-wild-review/) ## /Film — Germain Lussier Rating 9.5/10. 29 June 2012. Festival review. The film lives up to its buzz by transporting viewers to a whole new authentic-feeling world and stimulating the intellect. It is praised for its production design, rousing score, stunning visuals, and ability to spark conversations. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/519485/beasts-southern-wild-sundances-buzzed-movie-creates-world-sundance-2012-video-blog/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A. 25 January 2012. Festival review. The film is as stirring and striking as one could wish for at Sundance, creating a unique world of magical realism that is unforgettable though uneven and uncomfortable. It is praised for its bravura passion, visual poetry, and the way it captures life in a state of nature without God. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/sundance-review-the-south-will-rise-but-not-like-you-expected-in-the-pagan-powerful-beasts-of-the-southern-wild-20120125/) ## Paste — Clay Steakley Rating 9.4/10. 28 June 2012. The film is remarkable, bizarre, beautiful, triumphant and immensely sad, the best of 2012 thanks to its treasure chest of images and jewel of a story. It singles out the child lead Quvenzhané Wallis as the burning core and most winning protagonist in years. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/beasts-of-the-southern-wild/beasts-of-the-southern-wild) ## Digital Spy — Simon Reynolds Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 October 2012. Festival review. The critic calls it a flawless and extraordinary debut, one of the best films of 2012, that is deeply moving and lingers long after viewing. They single out the poetic visual style, the captivating central performance by the young lead, and the film's uplifting take on childhood wonder and humanity's relationship with nature. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/bfi-london-film-festival/a400815/beasts-of-the-southern-wild-review-bfi-london-film-festival-2012/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating B+. 22 January 2012. Festival review. The film is a unique, visually and thematically ambitious work unlike anything in recent years that transports viewers to a poetic, magical world. It excels as a technical and literary achievement with strong performances but sometimes leaves emotional moments underdeveloped. [Read the review](https://collider.com/beasts-of-the-southern-wild-review/) ## The Skinny — Philip Concannon Rating ★★. 15 October 2012. The critic acknowledges the film's restless energy, imaginative touches, and the disarming central performance but finds that it never coheres into something substantial. They single out missteps in the narrative, an awkward fit for the magic realism elements, and scenes that fail to ring true emotionally despite the location's natural wonder. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/beasts-of-the-southern-wild) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/beasts-of-the-southern-wild.md