What a terrible bunch of Oscar nominations! You could point a camera at most petulant children and get a variation on Quvenzhané Wallis' performance, if you can call it that. Nearly as bad is the screenplay nod. Most dialogue, like a sea captain telling Hushpuppy he saves the wrappers for his chicken biscuits to remember he was a different person each time he unwrapped them, is downright embarrassing. Benh Zeitlin's nomination is bad, but at least makes sense as the film is clearly over-directed. He intercuts shaky, but occasionally visually interesting shots with clumsy visual metaphors (i.e. the titular beasts, melting glaciers).
I'm not one to use the phrase "poverty porn," but from the sadsack opening shot of a trailer onward, it certainly fits. Beasts barely introduces its ill-defined ensemble in their bleak world before jumping from scene to scene with no sense of coherence. Most bits are grating, but the inability to establish settings or story gets exhausting by the time the gang try to escape a hospital where they're being fed and given medical treatment. Still, more of a "Best Picture" than Les Miserables.
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