Bird Box Review
7 / 10. Some interesting aspects, tense and enjoyable, but left wanting a bit more scariness after a great opening *MILD SPOILERS*
Netflix’s Bird Box is a post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Susanne Bier and written by Eric Heisserer, based on the novel Bird Box by Josh Malerman.
The film starts with Malorie (Sandra Bullock) taking her two children on a river in a rowboat, firmly telling them not to remove their blindfolds, or they will die. So far, so ominous.
Bird Box splits the story between the present, on the river, and five years previously, at the onset of a horrifying and strange event where unseen supernatural entities make people go insane and commit suicide if they look at them. Malorie and her sister, Jessica (Sarah Paulson), watch horrifying TV news reports of unseen monsters killing people in eastern Europe, seemingly far away from the USA and no great cause for alarm, but then the creepy insanity ramps up in a great first 15/20 minutes.
Events eventually conjoin from the events that led to the river and Malorie’s attempt to save herself and her children and look for safety and sanctuary.
The subtlety of the eyes changing in those who see the threat was a nice touch and a well-done special effect.
There are similar aspects here to The Happening and A Quiet Place, but this isn’t a bad thing as it isn’t just a rip off. Bird Box turns an intriguing idea into a tense and enjoyable film, but it isn’t very scary. It’s a similar experience to The Happening in that the trailer and the start of the film was scary, and the rest film wasn’t, but that was about killer plants so….
It is an effective horror tool to not show much of the monsters, but as they are different for everyone - much like a Boggart from Harry Potter - your imagination can make up the rest.
The group dynamics worked well, showcasing good and bad aspects of human nature and their instincts to survive.
The trip in the blacked-out car using only the GPS was a good idea and quite comical. Would that really work?! Let’s not try it. You can’t think too much about some parts as it wouldn’t add up or be believable, such as: rowing for 2 / 3 days straight blindfolded.
Trevante Rhodes is effortlessly cool, and his character Tom was a believable and affectionate partner for Malorie. Sandra Bullock is typically good here, as are Boy and Girl (Julian Edwards and Vivien Lyra Blair).
John Malkovich was excellent as always, as Douglas, and the small but pivotal role of Gary was played brilliantly by Tom Hollander.
The ending was a little predictable, but it fit well to the story.