On the horizon we see a grim industrial city but everything takes place in a strange swampy area where Hushpuppy, 5, lives in a shack-house next to his father's, who is gruff, stern and plagued by a deadly disease.

The life they lead is wild, eating barbecued chickens and alligators.

In the dry land, Hushpuppy says, "they have none of what we have...in the tank. They live on bagged fish and go on vacation once a year," while in the swamp they live on Dionysian feasts, learn to catch fish with their hands and survive.

Hushpuppy has only her father who harshly educates her in resilience, she knows that soon he will be gone; the hurricane is coming puts arms on her and wants to show her how she can win against the adverse forces of nature because "strong animals know how weak the heart is and that makes them hungry."

As Hushpuppy tries to become the king of the big tank he realizes that the whole universe stands on a combination and if you fix one piece everything falls back into place, while those in the dry land live in a fish tank with no water...

Hushpuppy has to learn that everyone loses the thing that created them, that's what happens in nature, although she can count in short order how many times she has been picked up; after all, "life is a prehistoric animal," and she has to learn to look it in the face without crying.

This enchanting film succeeds in taking you to an alternative dimension, that of the reasons of the contaminated and wild nature.

The magnificent protagonist succeeds in communicating to us the courage and discomfort offered to her by the incomprehensible necessity of having to become a strong male in order to survive, while the little girl seems to know very well how and what to do... The fears are there and they are like primal, unexplainable bison with which one can reconcile.

A unique and different film about another world in a poetic and extravagant way, a great magical life lesson; a strong existential doubt, a very strong emotion.

26-Jun-2023 by Beatrice