It’s been almost impossible to avoid people talking about Bird Box lately, so I decided it was time to check it out.
Also, I really wanted to know what the heck the title meant. (Okay, and Sandra Bullock is a favorite of mine.)
Turns out, all the positive hype I’ve heard is well deserved. Which is nice, since all the negative hype I heard about last year’s big Netflix movie with a big star in it was also true (that would have been Bright, with Wil Smith… which falls into the “a good idea poorly executed” category and will hopefully lead to better things set in the same world, because the setting was the only thing about that movie that was really engaging.)
This is a tense thriller blended excellently with a solid horror premise.
The Plot
Something horrible has happened. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps hundreds of millions of people all over the world have been driven to kill themselves. No one knows exactly what causes it, but the only way to avoid the siren song of whatever now stalks the streets is to never, ever, look anywhere unless you’re sure it’s enclosed and clear.
Malorie (Bullock) has two children under her care and is attempting a very dangerous trip down a river to a compound that’s supposedly safe.
The film’s narrative bounces back and forth from that river trip to everything that happened over the five years leading up to it.
It’s a pretty simple plot. That’s part of what makes this such an effective horror film.
“Please, let me in!”
Much like many films that have come before it, most of Bird Box involves a small number of survivors fighting to continue surviving. Sometimes they’re fighting against external sources. Sometimes against each other. And sometimes they’re really fighting against themselves.
The original Night of the Living Dead did this very well. A lot of zombie movies and shows do a decent enough job of it. It’s kind of easy to do this with zombies. They’re a visible threat and there’s a clear way to fight your way through them.
None of those zombie plots even come close to the intensity in this movie.
Here, there is no way to fight back. You can’t see what’s out to get you–if you do, it already has you. That right there kicks things up a few notches.
Here there is also no way to really sneak around. If you go out, you are vulnerable. Because wherever you go, you are travelling blind. Finding your way, tentatively, by touch and sound. Never sure of what’s around you or what you’re about to step on or into. There’s no “making noise somewhere else to move the zombie horde out of the way.” There’s no “just be really quiet and move slowly.” None of those tricks will save you.
Here all it takes is one errant glance out an uncovered window and you become a danger to yourself and a source of fear for others. No hiding bites of only turning after you’ve died. One glance and you’re dead.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a film that succinctly captures and clearly presents the types of people you end up with in a crisis situation. The supporting cast does a great job of putting enough humanity into the archetypes they’re given to make us care at least a bit whenever they put themselves at risk. Or when they die. There’s a lot of death.
Of particular note is John Malcovich‘s Douglas, the owner of the house everyone finds themselves holed up in. He’s an asshole. Without question. Rude. Caustic. Bullying. Self-serving. And, as is too often the case here in the real world, he’s also often right. He’s easy to hate. But, every now and then, there’s just enough humanity in him that you kind of feel sorry for him.
Rarely, in any movie, has a knock at the door and the request to be let in been such a distinct moral conundrum. Usually, we, the audience, at least know that what’s knocking is evil and dangerous or not. Things in Bird Box aren’t anywhere near as clear cut as that. Every knock and cry for help is played very, very well and all of them land solid hits.
The river sequences are intense in their own ways. Just the thought of being in a boat, with two children, and not being able to see where the current is taking you, or what’s around you, is at least mildly disturbing, no matter who you are. Add in the fact that it’s not just the water around you that’s dangerous and you’ve got more tension to work with. And then remember that no one even knows if where they’re going will actually be a safe space… just that it will be at least a little different from where you’ve just been.
The two kids in this, Vivien Lyra Blair and Julian Edwards, do great work for people their age. Again, not easy parts to play, being most of the time you’re blindfolded (or, at least, having to pretend you are).
The Verdict
Yeah, there’s a lot of positive buzz about this and it’s all justified.
Bird Box is everything The Happening wishes it had been.
If you like tense thrillers, definitely check it out. If you like post-apocalyptic survival stuff along the lines of The Walking Dead, check it out. (Sorry, Mad Max fans… no wasteland warriors here, just normal folk.) If you like solid character studies, check it out.
If you’re looking for some wry monster-fest or zombie smash-em-up, you’re going to have to go elsewhere.
Oh, and if, like me, you’re curious about the title… it seems that birds have use as an early warning system against whatever gets you when you see it. They kind of go all wild chirping and jumping about. One of the things that comes on the river trip and has to be protected is a box with three parakeets in it. Because they’re the only way our ever-dwindling number of survivors will know if things are safe in the end.
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