YMMV / Beasts of the Southern Wild

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Are the residents of The Bathtub complete idiots for refusing to leave their dying little hamlet? Or are they all folk heroes whose stubborn refusal to leave what is probably the only home any of them have ever known, even if it means dying there, courageous and inspiring? Or is it a little bit of both?
• Award Snub:
  • Dwight Henry missing out on a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards, as well as the film's much-lauded score. Even stranger given the film's relatively surprising nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
  • The Best Director nod is about enough for the film to avert the trope, given how few people were predicting to Benh Zeitlein to get in at all, much less over (perceived) Oscar frontrunners like Ben Affleck for Argo and Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty.
• Awesome Music: Holy damn, yes.
• Harsher in Hindsight: When Winston is asked what what he's going to do when the floodwaters start coming, he just pops open an umbrella. This becomes a lot less funny after Winston becomes the only named character to die when the storm hits.
• Tear Jerker: Most of what happens in the second half of the movie.
• Tough Act to Follow: This movie has become this for director Benh Zeitlein when his sophomore follow-up, Wendy, received mixed-to-negative reception.

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