Beasts of the Southern Wild is the story of a post disaster shantytown lifestyle told through the lens of the young girl "Hushpuppy" learning how to survive and grip reality in a fringe culture society that is barely holding together. The post hurricane Katrina Louisiana coastline gives the film a survivalist feel, as the only things the characters own is salvaged trailers, houses, and boats. Hushpuppy's father is a terminally ill alcoholic that is halfway devoted to his daughter's upbringing and the rest is concerned with maintaing a drunken stupor. Hushpuppy stumbles through childhood, learning to communicate with animals better than humans and taking occasional survival instruction from her father. The tiny community is threatened by the flooding and the uneducated and uncivilized populace turn to misconduct to save their hovel. Hushpuppy's father destroys a protective dyke and the local city attempts to bring them into a rescue shelter. Unwilling to work with the confines of civilization, Hushpuppy and her clan break free and make their way back to the shantytown where they can live as they choose.
The film makers wanted Beasts of the Southern Wild to be a romantic view of childhood in a dystopian society. The style of filming employed to give the sense of vision through a young, impoverished girl in the wasted Louisiana bayou is a little jarring and distracting at times. One never questions what perspective we are supposed to see during the film, yet at times, one strains to actually see what is happening in a scene due to some overused cinematic 'technique'. Although this does impose the viewer to try to make sense of what is happening in the world, much like a child's view.
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