Bird Box (movie review)

Netflix scores yet another huge success with Bird Box, with 45 million viewers streaming in the first week from it's release on 14th December 2018. (no spoilers)

 

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The Basics:

Bird Box is a 2018 American post apocalyptic thriller directed by Susanne Bier. The movie is based on a book of the same name by Josh Malerman which I've just bought in my local INDEPENDENT book store (Wexford Book Centre). Check out this great interview from the author here.

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The film follows a woman, played by Sandra Bullock, who, along with a pair of children, dubbed Boy and Girl, must make it through a forest and river blindfolded to avoid supernatural entities that take the appearance of their victims' worst fears & regrets that cause them to die by suicide. The only people who do not succumb to these affects are people who are insane. Bird Box starts out like M. Night Shyamalan's 2008 movie The Happening - an unseen entity drives people to take their own lives, plunging society and the World into chaos but the similarities end there. 

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We are immediately introduced to Mallory (Sandra Bullock), frankly being a bit of a bitch, she is really mean and stern towards her two children and explaining they will be taking a long, dangerous journey and they must do exactly what she tells them. With half the movie being flashbacks (which get a little jumpy at times) we learn how the World and Bullock got to where it is, that is, a World of cruelness and little love. For me as soon as I learnt:

1. This was a post apocalyptic story and 
2. My all time fave author Stephen King was a huge fan; 

I knew I'd be watching it fairly quickly and it didn't disappoint.The hubby also loved it.

   (source - Stephen King's Twitter)

As the story barrels along with a frightening river raft journey you can't help being reminded of the amazing Meryl Streep movie The River Wild, although it's not quite as manic, making the journey blind folded is still heart stopping at times. Sandra Bullock is brilliant and diverse, just looking at her filmography you immediately are drawn to Gravity, The Heat and The Blindside to mention a few of her recent successes. She is also fantastic in this movie. 

For me the rest of the actors are people I do not know except for B.D. Wong (most would recognise him from his role as Dr. Huang in Law and Order SVU and from Mr. Robot). Wong plays the token gay character in the movie, that, of course, dies quickly; (as we know it's a much abused lazy homophobic movie trope). 

Anyway, not to give too much away, for lovers of thrillers, a little bit of horror (but not gory and disgusting), a great story that pulls you and the characters on a great journey (actual and metaphorically speaking), well directed and great acting this is a must see. The ending is great (much better than the Happening) and if you're a fan of indie productions and/or Sandra Bullock you won't be disappointed either.

I give the movie an 8 out of 10 planets (it looses a planet for excessive use of flashbacks and the other for the killing of the gay character in a lazy hollywood trope) but this is my personal opinion and overall shouldn't take away from your enjoyment of the movie.

John The Captain Ryan.