This marvellous bayou fable has plenty of mythic and cinematic precedents - from The Wizard of Oz to David Gordon Green's George Washington - yet remains resolutely one of a kind. Set at the edge of so-called "civilisation" on the Louisiana levee, it revolves around the relationship between big-hearted but stoic six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and her gruff, protective father Wink (New Orleans baker Dwight Henry, making his acting debut). They are resiliently happy within their shanty-like Delta community where liquor flows, crayfish is feasted upon and self-sufficiency abides. But storm clouds are gathering: literally, in the shape of an encroaching hurricane, and metaphorically, with Wink's dicky heart and the menace of Hushpuppy's imagined prehistoric beasts. Working on a modest budget and using local talent, first-time feature director Benh Zeitlin impressively juggles elements of magical fantasy with hard-bitten poverty-line realism. This earthy depiction of a life outside of the globalised, technological present may even go so far as to offer a road map for a more modest, local, sustainable future. And, as well as being dramatically and visually engaging, the film conjures a living ecosystem that pulses, grips and ultimately enchants.