History Film / BeastsOfTheSouthernWild

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Aurochs were prehistoric cattle, not gigantic pigs. Justified by their being implied to exist only in Hushpuppy's imagination.

* AbusiveParents: Wink is verbally and physically abusive towards his daughter and is neglectful to the point of having her live unsupervised in a separate house. Even after she accidentally burns it down, he only begrudgingly lets her live with him and treats her cruelly.

* ApocalypseHow: At the beginning of the film, the Bathtub is cut off from civilization by a huge levee, and people live in a postindustrial level of civilization. [[spoiler: When the rain comes, the entire Bathtub area is flooded, animals start to die and some of the people who didn't leave were drowned]]

* BittersweetEnding

* ComingOfAgeStory

* DisasterScavengers: The people in the Bathtub live in a world constructed from detritus and waste. [[spoiler: The rest of the world isn't like this. Just the Bathtub]]

* SolarPunk: Where do we begin? The film starts with a teacher who warns about global warming and the rising sea levels, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The people in the Bathtub refuse to let a levee ruin their way of life, so they break it down. Then the city government forcibly removes them from the Bathtub, so they rebel even more. The film is steeped in environmentalism and hasanti-authoritarian characters, but the Bathtub manages to retain a sense of happiness with their way of life.

* AmateurCast: Dwight Henry was running a bakery before the director convinced him to audition for Wink, and it's Quvenzhané Wallis's first film as well.

* SheCleansUpNicely: [[Subverted with Hushpuppy as she looks very uncomfortable when she is forced to wear a frilly blue dress and has her hair plaited at the shelter. Her friends, who also had this happen to them, don't seem to mind though.]]

* DisasterScavengers: The people in the Bathtub live in a world constructed from detriTus and waste. [[spoiler: The rest of the world isn't like this. Just the Bathtub]]

* SolarPunk: Where do we begin? The film starts with a teacher who warns about global warming and the rising sea levels, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The people in the Bathtub refuse to let a levee ruin their way of life, so they break it down. Then the city government forcibly removes them from the Bathtub, so they rebel even more. The film is steeped in environmentalism and anti-authoritarian characters, but the Bathtub manages to retain a sense of happiness with their way of life.

* DisasterScavengers: The people in the Bathtub live in a world constructed from detrius and waste. [[spoiler: The rest of the world isn't like this. Just the Bathtub]]

* ParentalAbandonment: The three girls under Ms. Bathsheba's care; their parents are never seen or mentioned. Its implied that their families evacuated The Bathtub and left them there.

* SolarPunk: Where do we begin? The film starts with a teacher who warns about global warming and the rising sea levels, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The people in the Bathtub refuse to let a levee ruin their way of life, so they break it down. Then the city government forcibly removes them from the Bathtub, so they rebel even more. The film is steeped in environmentalism, anti-authoritarian characters, but the Bathtub manages to retain a sense of happiness with their way of life.

* AngryBlackMan: Wink is a reconstructed and justified example.

* AngryBlackMan - Wink is a reconstructed and justified example.
* AmateurCast - Dwight Henry was running a bakery before the director convinced him to audition for Wink, and it's Quvenzhané Wallis's first film as well.

* AmphibiousAutomobile - Wink's boat is made of pickup truck parts.
* ApocalypseHow - At the beginning of the film, the Bathtub is cut off from civilization by a huge levee, and people live in a postindustrial level of civilization. [[spoiler: When the rain comes, the entire Bathtub area is flooded, animals start to die and some of the people who didn't leave were drowned]]
* ArtisticLicenseBiology - Aurochs were prehistoric cattle, not gigantic pigs. Justified by their being implied to exist only in Hushpuppy's imagination.

* CosyCatastrophe - After the flood Hushpuppy and the remaining Bathtubbers enjoy seafood, beer and relax on the water.
* CrapsackWorld - The Bathtub, from the perspective of the people who don't live in it. [[spoiler:Even if the flood didn't come, it's implied the place was doomed.]]
* DisasterScavengers The people in the Bathtub live in a world constructed from detrius and waste. [[spoiler: The rest of the world isn't like this. Just the Bathtub]]

* HandsOffParenting - Hushpuppy lives in her own trailer apart from her dad. [[spoiler: She moves in with her dad after she sets her trailer on fire with her gas stove.]]

* IncurableCoughOfDeath - [[spoiler: Wink]]

* KidHero - Hushpuppy is a girl about 6 or 7, who manages to lead both adults and children.
** Wallis's audition (included as an extra on the DVD) took place when she was 5. She was 6 when she appeared in the movie, but 9 by the time she received her Oscar nomination.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane - Whether Hushpuppy's visions of aurochs are real or fantasy is not discussed. (It's implied, but never confirmed, that Wink can see them in a late scene.)
* MissingMom - Hushpuppy's mother is not on the scene. [[spoiler: Later in the film, Hushpuppy and the gang end up in what seems like a brothel, and Hushpuppy meets a woman who is implied to be her mother. Hushpuppy takes back the fried gator that the woman cooks for her back to her dad, as her dad has mentioned that her mother killed and cooked a gator for him on the day of her conception]].

* SoapOperaDisease - Hushpuppy's father Wink has a mysterious illness, complete with the IncurableCoughOfDeath and BloodFromTheMouth. The only explanation he ever gives is that his blood is "eating itself".

* MagicRealism - Whether Hushpuppy's visions of aurochs are real or fantasy is not discussed. (It's implied, but never confirmed, that Wink can see them in a late scene.)

* NoIndoorVoice: Just about everyone in the Bathtub, but ''especially'' Wink. [[spoiler: At least until he gets sick.]]

* AngryBlackMan - Wink.

* [[spoiler: DoomedHometown: The Bathtub]]

** Wallace's audition (included as an extra on the DVD) took place when she was 5.

* MagicRealism - Whether Hushpuppy's visions of aurochs are real or fantasy is not discussed.

* KidHero - Hushpuppy is a girl about 6 or 7, who manages to lead both adults and children

It was nominated at the 2012 Academy Awards for Best Picture, with 9-year old Quvenzhané Wallis becoming the youngest person ever to be nominated for Best Actress. The movie itself lost to ''Film/{{Argo}}'', while Wallis lost to JenniferLawrence.

* OnlyOneName: Hushpuppy and Wink.

* IncurableCoughofDeath - [[spoiler: Wink]]