Bird Box
Premise - Some unknown terror is causing people to erratically kill themselves the moment they see it. To survive in this apocalyptic world, one must stay indoors with the windows blacked out at all times. Running short of food and supplies, Malorie and her two five-year-old children attempt to take the journey downriver to a safehouse while completely blindfolded.
Review - I definitely have a different view of Netflix films after watching this. I typically associate Netflix as a platform that creates good shows, but terrible movies. This was a gamechanger for me. Absolutely phenomenal and is going to change the face of film distribution as we know it.
It's a thriller that utilizes a lot of my favorite tropes. It's got a disaster movie element where a bunch of strangers are trapped together in a house with a limited amount of supplies and have to get along. My mind immediately went to This is the End which cannot be more different of a film, but it hits on the same plot devices. They have to struggle to balance when to let strangers in, and when to let them die to protect their own little group; they have to decide who is going to take the risk and brave the dangerous world to try to round up more supplies and food; they have to coexist despite not even being sure if they can trust one another... Gosh I love storytelling. It's so fun. Dark and morbid in cases like these, but fun.
Then you've got the fact that the movie cuts back and forth between five years ago, when the "stuck in a house" trope is happening, and present day, when Malorie and kids are on the boat. I love the chronology of the film, considering that if it was told in basic chronological order the whole back half of the film would be, well, 3 people on a boat... but when you cut back and forth, it creates a bit of dramatic irony because you know who survives, who doesn't, and what the world is headed towards.
THEN you've got the added level of creativity with the blindness. How can you create a visual story in which all of the characters can't see? I know this is based on a book, but I think conceptually it's more visceral as a film. Watching them try to drive with no vision, or find their way around... the only thing is my suspension of disbelief was sometimes tainted because I was thinking some tasks would be WAY too hard to do blind, even if you were used to being blind.
My only complaint is that the film, while highly entertaining, is only somewhat meaningful. Yeah, there are themes of hopes/dreams, emotional attachment, etc. etc., but it's not globally meaningful in any way. We don't know what caused the disaster or why these creatures cause you to see your worst fears. There's a hint that it could have been biowarfare, but it's never explored. We don't know how the world could ever possibly rebuild.
Also, that safehouse with the school of the blind at the end, very cool concept, but still, how did they keep up a small society? Where do they get food? Or supplies? Don't they have the exact same problem as everyone else? (86/100)
Quote - I won't type it out word for word here because I'd have to find it, but the monologue Tom gives about how surviving isn't living. How the kids have to have something to dream about, or what's the point in keeping them alive to begin with?
What to watch for - Sandra Bullock's performance is stunning. But I loved how the friend from Get Out had a little role in this film too. He's hilarious.
If you enjoyed this movie, I think I would recommend A Quiet Place but I have yet to see it! Though I do think I would recommend The Day After Tomorrow maybe?? Or for books, The Fireman
Based on the novel by Josh Malerman
Directed by Susanne Bier
Distributed by Netflix
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