Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a 2012 film directed by Benh Zeitlin and written by Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin. It was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Motion Picture, Directing (Benh Zeitlin), Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Quvenzhane Wallis), and Best Writing: Screenplay based on Previously Produced or Published Material. The film is based on a play.

In the film, Hushpuppy (Wallis) and her father, Wink, live in a southern bayou prone to flooding that the locals call The Bathtub. Natives of the area have been told that the area is not safe, but the land is their home and they are determined to stay there. Throughout the film, Hushpuppy (6 years old) must face the illness of her father and the fear associated with the land flooding. She previously lost her mother. As the land floods and her father becomes more ill, Hushpuppy believes that she caused the events. She imagines beasts destroying the land and everything around her. She and her family are taken to a local shelter and her father realizes that he is dying. He tries to send Hushpuppy with his friends, but Hushpuppy doesn't understand. The locals take Hushpuppy and Wink home to allow him to die there. Hushpuppy travels to a lighthouse light that she sometimes thinks is her mother communicating with her. When she is there, she finds a similar reality to what she had at home. When she returns, she again imagines the beasts, but this time, she is not afraid. She stands up to them and goes inside to take care of her father. At the end, you can see Hushpuppy walking with her father's friends triumphantly as she honors her father.

Issues for discussion:
End of Life Issues (Wink's struggle and death)
Coming of Age (Hushpuppy's journey)
Belonging/Validation (Wink/Hushpuppy and the community's fight to stay on their land; Hushpuppy finds new support)
Alcoholism (Wink's alcohol abuse)
Loss (Some of Hushpuppy's animals die in the flood; people move away; Hushpuppy's mother/Wink's wife passed)
Poverty (The community's struggles)


As always, always screen a movie before using it as a tool for therapy.