Benh Zeitlan’s arrestingly told fable about life in a Southern Delta community told from the point of view of a feisty six-year-old girl is one of the most impressive feature debuts I’ve ever seen at Sundance.

Young Quvenzhane Wallis is simply amazing as the feral Hushpuppy, a force of nature copes with the fatal illness of her father (Dwight Henry) and an apocalyptic series of events.

An unlikely gumbo of melodrama, folklore and magic realism — a herd of computer-generasted prehistoric creatures unleashed by melting polar icecaps loom large — as well as a nonprofessional cast, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (developed at the Sundance Directors Lab) is unforgettable and a serious contender in the festival’s U.S. dramatic competition.