[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Les bêtes du Sud sauvage

Original title: Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • 2012
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 33m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
86K
YOUR RATING
Les bêtes du Sud sauvage (2012)
Faced with her father's fading health and environmental changes that release an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy leaves her Delta-community home in search of her mother.
Play trailer1:59
26 Videos
99+ Photos
Coming-of-AgeSupernatural FantasyAdventureDramaFantasy

Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways... Read allFaced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.

  • Director
    • Benh Zeitlin
  • Writers
    • Lucy Alibar
    • Benh Zeitlin
  • Stars
    • Quvenzhané Wallis
    • Dwight Henry
    • Levy Easterly
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    86K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Benh Zeitlin
    • Writers
      • Lucy Alibar
      • Benh Zeitlin
    • Stars
      • Quvenzhané Wallis
      • Dwight Henry
      • Levy Easterly
    • 314User reviews
    • 480Critic reviews
    • 86Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 4 Oscars
      • 90 wins & 135 nominations total

    Videos26

    Best Picture Nominee
    Trailer 1:59
    Best Picture Nominee
    Gugu Mbatha-Raw Shares the Whimsical and Uplifting Films That Give Her Hope
    Clip 5:19
    Gugu Mbatha-Raw Shares the Whimsical and Uplifting Films That Give Her Hope
    Gugu Mbatha-Raw Shares the Whimsical and Uplifting Films That Give Her Hope
    Clip 5:19
    Gugu Mbatha-Raw Shares the Whimsical and Uplifting Films That Give Her Hope
    Why 'Wendy' Is a Live-Action Peter Pan We Actually Want
    Clip 3:58
    Why 'Wendy' Is a Live-Action Peter Pan We Actually Want
    "We Stay Right Here"
    Clip 1:38
    "We Stay Right Here"
    Beasts Of The Southern Wild: You Want To Try It Again? (Uk)
    Clip 1:06
    Beasts Of The Southern Wild: You Want To Try It Again? (Uk)
    Beasts Of The Southern Wild: We Stay Right Here
    Clip 1:40
    Beasts Of The Southern Wild: We Stay Right Here

    Photos124

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 118
    View Poster

    Top cast21

    Edit
    Quvenzhané Wallis
    Quvenzhané Wallis
    • Hushpuppy
    Dwight Henry
    Dwight Henry
    • Wink
    Levy Easterly
    Levy Easterly
    • Jean Battiste
    Lowell Landes
    • Walrus
    Pamela Harper
    • Little Jo
    Gina Montana
    • Miss Bathsheba
    Amber Henry
    • LZA
    Jonshel Alexander
    Jonshel Alexander
    • Joy Strong
    Nicholas Clark
    • Boy with Bell
    Joseph Brown
    • Winston
    Henry D. Coleman
    • Peter T
    Kaliana Brower
    • T-Lou
    Philip Lawrence
    Philip Lawrence
    • Dr. Maloney
    Hannah Holby
    • Open Arms Babysitter
    Jimmy Lee Moore
    • Sgt. Major
    Jovan Hathaway
    • The Cook
    Kendra Harris
    • Baby Hushpuppy
    Marilyn Barbarin
    • Cabaret Singer
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Benh Zeitlin
    • Writers
      • Lucy Alibar
      • Benh Zeitlin
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews314

    7.286.2K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    Gordon-11

    What is the hype about?

    This film tells the story of a girl whose life is turned upside down by a flood in her village.

    "Beasts of the Southern Wild" looks like a fairytale or fantasy adventure from the poster, but in fact the film cannot be further from it. The plot is impossible to follow, as it is just a random collection of scenes that are poorly bridged together. For example, how did the girls get from the prostitution rig to a beach all of a sudden? Things are so poorly explained in the film, that I did not understand a thing. The film also shows a lot of irresponsible parenting, and I dread to think whether this has adversely affected the little girl actress. And as for the beasts mentioned in the title, I do wonder if it is referring to the scanty animals we see, or to the father and his friends. I was thoroughly bored by "Beasts of the Southern Wild", and I appeal to all to avoid this film.
    7chaz-28

    A phenomenal child actor and solid story are generating well deserved word of mouth; you are going to hear a lot about this film from your friends

    Beasts of the Southern Wild is shot through the eyes of a six year old. To Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis), the islands of southern Louisiana are a magical place filled with lucky people who do not have to live like cowards behind the levees and only get one holiday a year. Hushpuppy's voice-over reveals the island folk rarely need an excuse to have a party or take another holiday. If this film were shot through the more perceptive eyes of an adult, the audience I bet would get a much different take on things. Extreme poverty, alcoholism, and child neglect are just the first few overt issues which come to mind. It was a very wise move for the filmmakers to stick with the child protagonist. Magical realism is far more acceptable and preferable to an audience than what could arguably be termed child cruelty.

    Hushpuppy and her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), live in an area called 'The Bathtub'. It is not protected by the New Orleans levee system, people scuttle around from place to place by haphazardly crafted boats, and everyone expects that some day, the melting polar ice caps will submerge their homes and only the strong will survive. It turns out that some day in Beasts of the Southern Wild is now. When Hushpuppy first hears the thunder of the coming storm, she believes it to the be the sound of melting glaciers falling off of Antarctica. It is never mentioned by name; however, the storm appears to be Hurricane Katrina. Since the main part of her father's and his friends' days consist of drinking, there are no preparations for the coming calamity, just praise for the brave souls staying behind for what they claim will be a little wet weather and catcalls to those fleeing behind the levees. Where is mama in all of this? The idea of mama to Hushpuppy is and old, dirty basketball jersey she carries around with her and sometimes talks to. Every now and then, Hushpuppy thinks she sees mama when she glimpses a far away lighthouse or watches an approaching helicopter. Whether mama is dead or has just run off is another unexplained phenomenon kept by daddy.

    After the storm, Hushpuppy and daddy float around in their make shift boat which is the back of an old pickup truck with a struggling outboard hanging on behind it. They meet up with a few other survivors who immediately start engaging in activities they do best, drinking. However, this was not your regular storm. The water is not receding, the animals, even the fish, are dying, and whatever sickness daddy had to start with is starting to pick up speed. Throughout the ensuing scenes to remedy their dreadful situation, Hushpuppy keeps the audience involved with her prescient voice-over. A notable example is her comparison of getting old and sick outside of the levee wall versus inside of it. Outside there is savagery; the young will eat the old and move on. Inside, they plug you into the wall (ventilators). Whenever daddy feels he has been a particularly lousy father, he teaches Hushpuppy to do something such as catch a catfish her bare hands and be sure to give it a good punch when she gets it into the boat. There is also an odd side story involving long extent carnivores called aurochs. They represent the savage beasts who kill and eat anything and everything. The allegory is not readily apparent and its payoff is understated at best.

    This description sounds starkly bleak, which the subject matter surely is, but the film is very well put together. The scenery looks like it would after biblical destruction, the actors appear to all be locals and have the accents to prove it, and the music is incorporated effectively. The very young actress playing Hushpuppy is phenomenal. Perhaps a few years from now she will realize just how deep her character is written and how only a very minority of child actors could have possible pulled it off. Her father, while not necessarily a sympathetic character, was well cast and while is not particularly an ignorant man, is certainly a man set in his ways determined his progeny will follow in the local footsteps. Having respect for and maintaining the traditions of your place of birth is one thing, but more than likely, Hushpuppy is being set up for a life of substance abuse and unsteady employment. However, that is jumping ahead. Beasts of the Southern Wild is about a very specific time and place with thoughts only of the next meal, not tomorrow, and definitely not next month.

    The camaraderie between our heroes and the locals is fun to watch and seeing how they make the best of a horrible situation is quite creative when you see it as Hushpuppy does. There is a high probability this film will continue to progress with strong word of mouth, end up on several Top 10 lists, and be in line for some Oscar nominations. The film is certainly worthy of the word of mouth it is getting because audiences have really not seen anything like this before, but the automatic Top 10 inclusion is a bit far-fetched. It is winning awards for cinematography, but the hand held camera borders on annoying at times. If there is a party, the audience intuitively understands it is fun. Does the camera have to wildly spin around as well? When someone is running, must the camera bounce up and down too? See Beasts of the Southern Wild for the story, the locations, and the child actor. You will tell your friends about it the next day.
    Kirpianuscus

    great

    the first temptation is to compare it with other films about same theme. and you discover it is unique. unique because it is a fantastic translation of the refuges and visions and creativity and courage of an unique age. than for an extraordinary child actor. not the last, for the feel to be part of film. to see the landscapes, to touch the things, to be near the courageous girl, to hope save the situation of the poor father. it is a dream and a fairy tale and a seductive pledge to see, for other side, the life. it reminds the drawings of children, always more serious and realistic than you imagine its. and this small detail, the tension, the powerful flavor of freedom impose "Beasts of the Southern Wild" as something real special. maybe an experience. maybe vehicle to memories. maybe total show. maybe rediscover of territories living inside us.
    9Hitchcoc

    Needs Another Viewing

    This is such an original piece of work, I believe I need to view it again. Unlike some of the naysayers that have given this almost no worth, despite the fact that it doesn't have a conventional plot, I was mesmerized from the beginning. First of all, this is dreamscape and fantasy. It's the mind of a remarkable little girl as she butts heads with her fears and her awful lot in life. The river people are just that. They are survivors. They are so out of the ordinary, one can dismiss them. I challenge anyone who has not had to be a part of such a world not to judge so harshly. Katrina brought these people to the surface literally and figuratively. This is an example of the objective correlative which is what visual filmmaking is all about. As for the acting, it seemed at times that no-one was really acting, as if they were actually people of the river. I look forward to another viewing.
    9ignominia-1

    The word is: Magic Realism

    What is so difficult to understand? If we suspend belief for Spiderman, The Hulk and King Kong why can't we believe in this story?

    I wonder whether some viewers are so addicted to the rhythm of plot driven movies to render them unable to appreciate a story like this, a story that sees the world through the eyes of a child who knows nothing of what we know. If you are one of those, go read somewhere else. I am not going to give you a synapse but my humble opinion on its meaning and possibly its intent. Or more surely, what I got out of it.

    The beauty of this movie lies in Hushpuppy, a child young enough to be nonjudgmental, and her vision of life and its inhabitants. She has her own wisdom and is, like all children, taking things quite literally.

    At first the hand-held camera-work and insufficient light-fill to illuminate the deep shades gave me the impression that this was a documentary style movie, a story reporting the lives of a group of people living off the grid in some southern state of the United States. But when I understood that the "Beasts" of the title was not a judgment of the movie's humans and their poverty, their ignorance, their unsophistication- but only an alternate noun for "animals" which the protagonists calls both her pets and humans alike, I started seeing the movie for what it really is: A dream, a fantasy, an imaginary story that merged with the contemporary awareness of global warming, and so a low tech sci-fi prediction of how the world may soon become.

    With that key I read most character's actions: the father figure who needs to train his child to survive, inciting her "to show her guns" and be self assured; the woman who teaches children the use of herbs to cure, the meaning of magic and mythology; the tolerance of the other adults for what, in a parallel reality, would definitively been child abuse. All this is righteously done to prepare the children to survive in a world that was(is?) going from merely hard to impossible.

    Wink's seemingly unsentimental and insensitive behavior towards the little wee child makes then perfect sense and thus his letting go when she can keep at bay, the Aurochs (a metaphor for her still childlike imagination) and her ability to step out of that world and into that of an adult ("I've got to take care of mine now") is the proof that she had grown up enough to survive on her own.

    Looking back to it, this movie is a miracle as improbable as that of La Vita é Bella, where Benigni infused humor in a story about the Holocaust without becoming offensive or demeaning. Beasts of a Southern Wild is able to merge a child's world with that of an adult; to make us see how the effects of global warming will challenge the lives of many; it is a comment and a reminder of Katrina, its victims and consequences; finally it is a poetic way of describing the world and its inhabitants, escaping the ugliness and despair of certain realities by converting it into hope, survival and beauty.

    More like this

    9.0
    Belle
    Amour
    7.9
    Amour
    Philomena
    7.6
    Philomena
    The Sessions
    7.2
    The Sessions
    Brooklyn
    7.5
    Brooklyn
    Lincoln
    7.3
    Lincoln
    Tout va bien! The Kids Are All Right
    7.0
    Tout va bien! The Kids Are All Right
    Selma
    7.5
    Selma
    Wendy
    5.7
    Wendy
    The Master
    7.1
    The Master
    The Descendants
    7.3
    The Descendants
    L'odyssée de Pi
    7.9
    L'odyssée de Pi

    Related interests

    Elsie Fisher in Dernière Année (2018)
    Coming-of-Age
    Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson in S.O.S. fantômes (1984)
    Supernatural Fantasy
    Still frame
    Adventure
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Elijah Wood in Le Seigneur des anneaux : La Communauté de l'anneau (2001)
    Fantasy

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Dwight Henry owned and operated the bakery across the street from the space where the crew was working and casting. Benh Zeitlin posted a casting flyer with tearaway numbers in Dwight's bakery. After several weeks, he invited Dwight over for a read. Two days later, Dwight moved his shop to a larger space, and when the crew went looking for him for a call back, no one knew where he went. When they located Dwight 2 months later, he turned them down because he was investing all his time in the new bakery. Finally, every single person involved with the film at that point showed up at his bakery at the same time and told him he had to do the movie. Dwight agreed, as long as they rehearsed with him during his midnight baker's hours.
    • Goofs
      During the height of the hurricane scene, Wink challenges the storm, with his rifle, as a means of comforting Hushpuppy and alleviating her fears. While he is outside in the hurricane winds and rain, only the trees in his immediate vicinity are violently moving. Trees in the background (perhaps beyond the reach of a wind fan) are perfectly still.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Hushpuppy: When it all goes quiet behind my eyes, I see everything that made me lying around in invisible pieces. When I look too hard, it goes away. And when it all goes quiet, I see they are right here. I see that I'm a little piece in a big, big universe. And that makes things right. When I die, the scientists of the future, they're gonna find it all. They gonna know, once there was a Hushpuppy, and she live with her daddy in the Bathtub.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Big Review: Summer Trailer Park Series (2012)
    • Soundtracks
      Valse De Balfa
      Performed by The Lost Bayou Ramblers

      Written by Will Balfa

      Published by Flat Town Music Company (BMI)

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ20

    • How long is Beasts of the Southern Wild?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 12, 2012 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Fox Searchlight
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Beasts of the Southern Wild
    • Filming locations
      • Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, USA
    • Production companies
      • Cinereach
      • Department of Motion Pictures
      • Court 13 Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,800,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $12,795,746
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $169,702
      • Jul 1, 2012
    • Gross worldwide
      • $21,107,746
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 33m(93 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • Datasat
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.