Bird Box (2018) Netflix/Drama-Thriller RT: 124 minutes Rated R (aberrant violence, bloody gory images, some sexuality and nudity, language, drug and alcohol use) Director: Susanne Bier Screenplay: Eric Heisserer Music: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Cinematography: Salvatore Totino Release date: December 21, 2018 (US & Netflix) Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Vivien Lyra Blair, Julian Edwards, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, Danielle Macdonald, Colson Baker (Machine Gun Kelly), Lil Rel Howery, Tom Hollander, BD Wong, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich, Parminder Nagra, Rebecca Pidgeon, Amy Gumenick, Taylor Handley, Happy Anderson, David Dastmalchian, Keith Jardine. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
Ever since I was traumatized by The Road ten years ago, I don’t look forward to movies with end of the world scenarios. The 2009 drama, in which a father and son travel on foot across post-apocalyptic America, stayed with me for a long time. The idea of a dead planet whose few remaining inhabitants have descended into savagery is extremely disturbing to me. It scares me to think it could very well come to that someday. I hope I’m long gone when and if it does indeed happen.
In any event, I wasn’t exactly enthused about watching Bird Box starring Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) as a woman escorting two children through a dangerous post-apocalyptic landscape to a supposedly safe place. Yes, it sounds a lot like The Road except it’s really not. Last year, the surprise horror hit A Quiet Place depicted a world where making the slightest sound could cause your death. The family at the center of it, survivors of an alien invasion, had to live in complete silence in order to continue surviving. Among other things, they couldn’t speak. They had to communicate in other ways, mainly sign language. Survival in the world depicted in Bird Box similarly involves sensory deprivation. In this case, it’s sight. People, what few are left, have to get around while wearing blindfolds because what they see could kill them. This makes Bullock’s journey even more difficult. But this is only part of Bird Box. There’s more to it.
The movie jumps back and forth in time between Bullock’s journey with the children and five years earlier when a cataclysmic event brought about the end of the world. It seemed like an ordinary day for Malorie (Bullock), an artist dealing with a pregnancy she’s not sure she wants. She worries that her antisocial nature will prevent her from forming a bond with her child. She visits her doctor who suggests she consider putting her baby up for adoption. Meanwhile, there are news reports all over the TV about a strange phenomenon involving mass suicides throughout Russia and Europe. Whatever it is comes here. We’re never shown the entity nor is it described; all we know is that if you look at it, it makes you go insane and commit suicide.
Malorie ends up in a house with a group of strangers that include the homeowner Greg (Wong, Law & Order: SVU), war vet and eventual love interest Tom (Rhodes, Moonlight), an elderly woman (Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook), police cadet Lucy (Salazar, the Maze Runner series), pill-popping metal head Felix (Colson, better known as rapper Machine Gun Kelly), supermarket clerk Charlie (comedian Howery of the sitcom Rel) and the grumpy neighbor, Douglas (Malkovich, In the Line of Fire), who’s suing Greg. Another pregnant woman, Olympia (Macdonald, Patti Cake$), joins them later. Here’s where Bird Box differs from A Quiet Place. The sense of confinement, the not fully understanding the danger that awaits them outside, the distrust and paranoia, the having to work together to survive; it’s all very reminiscent of Steven King’s The Mist. Sure, it’s derivative but it still hits a nerve thanks to believable performances from a solid cast.
Five years later, Malorie hears that there’s a place where she and the children, named “Boy” (Edwards) and “Girl” (Blair), can live safely. One of the problems is that she doesn’t trust the voice on the other end of the two-way radio. How does she know he’s not leading her into a trap? Another problem is that getting there involves navigating a rowboat down a treacherous river (with rapids, of course). How is she supposed to do that blindfolded? Then there’s the added responsibility of making sure the kids don’t remove their blindfolds. This part of Bird Box contains a fair amount of tension.
Directed by Susanne Bier (In a Better World), Bird Box is a large-scale story told on a smaller scale. Rather than rely on big action sequences and CGI, Bier trains her focus on the characters, their interactions and their fear of the unknown world-ending thing. The scenes in the house are sufficiently claustrophobic as the characters fight over what course of action to take when a stranger shows up at the door. Do they let this person in or leave him/her outside to die? Humanity or self-preservation, it’s not an easy choice. There’s a nicely thrilling sequence where some of the characters make a food run to a nearby market using only the car’s GPS to guide them around obstacles. Granted, the dialogue tends to be too expository but it allows us to get to know the people we’re supposed to care about (that is, before they die). That we only see Bullock and the kids in later scenes adds a palpable sense of dread to the flashbacks.
In the lead role, Bullock does a fine job despite the script’s undercooked motherhood metaphors. In a nightmare world, Malorie has no choice but to be harsh towards her two charges. She’s unable to hug them but quick to save them from potential danger. Malkovich is diabolical as the neighbor who blames Malorie for the death of his wife who killed herself while trying to bring the pregnant woman into the house. He gets off a few great lines including my favorite, “There are only two types of people, the a**holes and the dead.” Really, the whole cast does a fine job. They allow us to get to know their characters even if the script doesn’t provide a lot of psychological insight. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross tends to be distracting rather than mood-enhancing.
Some have complained the climax of Bird Box is silly. I say it works for the most part. There’s one aspect of it I find hokey but I like how everything leading up to it is handled. There’s this freaky sequence in the woods where Bullock and the kids have their minds messed with by the entity that uses voices of loved ones to get them to remove their blindfolds.
Overall, Bird Box is a pretty good movie. It’s certainly better than Netflix’s sci-fi offering of last Christmas, the dreadful cop-mythical creature actioner Bright starring Will Smith. It’s bleak but there’s a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel. It’s worth checking out.
