Benh
Zeitlin takes the helm of the creative direction, for which he too was
nominated for an academy award (Best director), and paints a vivid image of a
close-knit, remote community with the use of handheld camera work and tightly
framed shots that assist in quickly establish connections with characters and locations.
Add on a rich and varied colour palette and excellent acting across the board
and you get a sense of the reason this is one of my all-time favourite films.

From the establishing shots with Hushpuppy (Wallis) listening to animals heartbeats, to the tense scenes with her father (Dwight Henry) who is varyingly angry and caring and almost always unreadable, I find I care immensely about the characters in the film. The film feels somewhat unique in that there is no antagonist beyond the mysterious mainland who have forgotten them, death itself and the possibly imagined Aurochs thawed from an unnamed arctic environment. This encapsulates a child-like sense of going up against the world and the mysteries represented by it, which fits very well thematically with the narrative the film follows.
Ultimately
the film evokes a sense of both childhood and community, with a skill and
delicacy, not flinching away from the harsh or the painful, presenting
childhood in all of its aspects. Standing as perhaps the single most moving and
uplifting films I have seen, this one comes highly recommended.
Tim
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