Few movies with adult leads can convey the multifaceted and earnest performances good child actors can deliver. Even the best ones lack that je ne sais quoi a child brings to a role – it's some magic combination of precocious maturity and inherent innocence.

The people behind "Beasts of the Southern Wild" clearly know this, choosing to rest their story squarely on the shoulders of young newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis, who embodies her character and responsibilities with all of the masterful skill of any seasoned professional.

"Beasts" is a film based in abject squalor and made beautiful by the resiliency and simplicity of its characters. It takes place in a reclusive bayou community called The Bathtub, in which 6-year-old Hushpuppy (Wallis), her father Wink (Dwight Henry) and a small, close-knit population eke out a bare-bones living. It's all they know and it's all they want.

Hushpuppy is happy in her routine with her tough-love father, but with his declining health and a powerful storm that threatens to destroy all they know on the horizon, it becomes clear to Hushpuppy that she must take matters into her own hands to set things right.

Much of the story is told through Hushpuppy's perspective. She narrates nearly all of it, and does so in a plaintive way that is both endearing and heartbreaking. Some of the things she's exposed to and is forced to deal with are jarring enough for the average adult, and yet her matter-of-fact way of handling herself almost makes the situation seem ordinary.

And for her, it is; only when the viewer takes a second to pull away from the life "Beasts" has immersed them in does it dawn on them how much really is at stake, and how precarious Hushpuppy's place in her world really is.

Hushpuppy is a more extreme example of The Bathtub's makeshift lifestyle and intrepid do-it-yourself-ism because of her age. She's incredibly strong-willed, a trait that gets exacerbated by the tendency for children to be the centers of their own universes.

When her father's condition worsens, she blames herself for upsetting the natural order and causing the release of the aurochs, a symbolic representation of the looming devastation of her small world. In her child's mind, she alone has the power to balance the universe and prevent the aurochs from uprooting the last of what she knows.

"Beasts" is surprisingly whimsical in the face of its harsh and unforgiving subject matter. The aurochs are a clear example of this, however there are small details throughout as a result of Hushpuppy's first-person account. It succeeds not because of a huge budget or spectacular effects, but because of its ability to find the small points of beauty in an arguably ugly life.

Rookie director Benh Zeitlin shows definite promise with this elegant and nuanced film, as well as with his keen eye for delivering it. Wallis does an incredible job of maneuvering boldly through Hushpuppy's world, and Zeitlin captures the finer points of her work admirably.

The film is good, as its many accolades can attest. It is, however, a wholly unique experience, and not one the average audience might be inclined to get behind. There are moments when it lapses into obscure indie territory, but it's an honest and jarring alternative to typical summer box office offerings.