BirdBox Review

BirdBox (2018)
Directed By: Susanne Bier
Written by: Eric Heisserer
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, etc.

Well...Netflix has certainly come a long way from it's humble begins as a rental platform that soon became one of the founding and dominating streaming sites online.  Since it's inception, millions now can stream almost any show, film, documentary, comedy special, etc. that they want. While there have been various Netflix original series that have taken off, there have been rarely any Netflix original films that have been so hyped up and celebrated than "Bird Box" in seemingly one week since it's release. Even last year's mythological creature feature drama, "Bright", starring Will Smith didn't become this much of a pop culture sensation seemingly overnight despite having some serious metaphorical undertones about racism and culture.  The memes and post have over flooded social media to the point where the movie has become almost a running joke at this point.  Ive been kind annoyed by it actually.  It's hard to live up to the massive popularity of a film, show, etc. once it becomes obnoxiously massive before you even get a chance to watch it....but despite by irritation with the Bird Box phenomenon I decided to give a film a shot since I wasn't feeling well and had the day off from work since I called out sick.  So what do I think of the movie itself after so many have deemed it "one of, if not the best, horror film of all time" and has become the most viewed Netflix Original film of all time so far??? Well...I will admit, the film is great!  Solid performances all round, an intriguing and thought provoking plot and an emotional heart at the center of it to keep viewers hanging on for dear life at what will happen next. But!  Being compared to something like "A Quiet Place", that also came out this year, "Bird Box" doesn't feel quite as original or groundbreaking as people are making it out to be.  We're not talking about a social deconstruction of racism and class like "Get Out", we are talking about an often times generic apocalyptic suspense thriller that certain has it's moments that will make you cry and reaching for your own pair of blindfolds, but it hardly adds anything new to the genre it is from.

Once again, I will say though, the cast, for the most part, give very stellar performances with Sandra Bullock as our courageous and mysterious mother figure lead named Malorie as the film opens to her desperately telling two children of the dangerous mission they are about to embrake on and how they must above all circumstances "Not take their blindfolds' off"!!!  From there the movie is constantly shifting backwards and forwards between Malorie's intense journey down a very ominous looking river with both children and how this apocalypse started 5 years ago.  While on the day that Malorie's sister, Jessica played by Sarah Paulson, takes on a trip to the doctor's for an ultrasound, all hell quickly breaks loose as an ode and wide spreading suicide outbreak makes it's way to the US from Spain and no one seems to know what it going on.  After a frightening series of self afflicting death occurs as Jessica and another bare witness to the apocalyptic threat, Malorie and a crew of random people take refuge in a home to see their next move should be.  My thing is, this seemingly omnipotent presence that makes you kill yourself when you look at it....is never really explained.  What we do get is a moment when one of the characters, Charlie played by Lil Rel Howery, gives us some exposition of what this thing might be as he has studied up on mythical spirits, creatures and presences from all sorts of mythologies that could be bringing on the end of the world.  But honestly, that's all to his character besides the fact he's writing a novel based on his theories and in an intense moment of self sacrifice in the face of the unspeakable force that must be remained unseen.  Honestly, the film is filled with your typical scenes where we get to delve into this group of characters that have been forced together because of the unfortunate circumstances of the end of days but honestly, outside a selected few, some characters are rather superfluous and have no point to the film besides some genuine moments of comic relief.  Now I'm all for funny moments in between moments of horror and suspense, but characters like rapper MGK's Felix aka Colson Baker and Rosa Salazer's Lucy are ultimately pointless and exit the film very early on with the fate unknown.  Also, Jacki Weaver's Cheryl goes out pretty quickly during the film's most horrific moment as the home of survivors is under attack by a doctor who is one of the few people who is affected by the invisible self destroyer by being some kind of follower that forces people to look at it's master.

Yes, this character comes into the film and pretty much leading to some of the most powerfully brutal and violent moments of the film, but honestly, you could almost see this turn of events coming a mile away, especially after the frantic psychologist speaks of surviving a similar incident where the mindless followers forced him to witness the terrifying presence that releases a person's deepest fears that forces them to commit suicide.  Honestly, the film is filled with some very intriguing and nearly fully realized inventive ideas but most of the time falls into cliches and obvious plot points like the easy revelation of the two children that Malorie is desperately looking after hers and Olympia, played by Danielle MacDonald, children who she had to raise for five years until the present.  Also, the moment of the double pregnancy was a bit of a moment of forced comedy that kind borderlines on parody.  I'm sure it was a needed moment of relief again but the way the scene comes about just feels a little too over the top for me despite the hilarious convenience.  While Olympia was a decent character and shared a nice moment with Malorie, the characters that steal the show are really Malkovich's Douglas, a grief stricken husband who becomes the unfortunate "@sshole" of the survivors but at least thanks to John's wonderful performance and the motivations come up with behind his selfish behavior make sense.  Not to mention, I completely adored the moment when he became the unlikely hero but ultimately it was a short lived and his demise at the hand of the follower was pretty sad considering he wanted to change and save lives despite the other survivors locking him away. Usually the @sshole character in these post apocalyptic movies get their karmic pay back or are shown to be a jerk througout but I liked that bit of originality with that character who should have been saved considering how much of a journey he goes throughout the film that feels more genuine than even Malorie's and Tom's.  Speaking of Tom, Moonlight's Trevanet Rhodes turns out to be quite the charming, charismatic and strong lead here alongside Bullock's Malorie.  Their worlding ending romance could be seen a mile away but it doesn't make their chemistry anymore lacking and forced.

The scenes where they are a couple simply raising and teaching their kids how to survive the tense world they have lived in for so long was the most endearing part of the film and kind of wished the writers went with the "family trying to survive the apocalypse" angle than the usual "group of isolated individuals forced to learn and survive together" angle that we've seen so many times in zombie horror films.  It's honestly more a testament to Bullock and Rhodes who are undoubtedly the moral center of the film and why we care so much about the characters we are left with.  Between Bullock's intense performance when she must chose which child to "look" for her to Rhodes' Tom fighting his own personal fears to save his family, that was the film became something more at times than what people seem to be making it out to be.  I also enjoy the parallel of Tom coming to save his new family and the moment he has to save them again....but without him making it that time.  The emotional moments of the film really work when we are with the fully fleshed out characters and not the cop who hooks up with Eminem's former rival. lol  At the end of the film, the message of the film is clear as in a moment where the unknown evil tells her separated children, she is forced to finally connect to the two kids that she didn't care to give a name out of a way to disconnect herself from them so they could survive.  But the key to their survival turned out to be her "seeing" that she is their mother and she needs to give them hope so they can survive, not just demands all the time.  The movie ends in typical fashion with a resolution that both makes sense but leaves me wondering why no one though that maybe a blind person would be essential in surviving this type of apocalyptic scenario but whatever.  In the end, Malorie's journey is complete as in the beginning she planned on almost giving up her child in fear of not being able to give her baby as home....a family and throughout it all, she ended up giving them something more, something to believe in that not even their greatest fears couldn't compete with. Not bad, not bad at all! :)

"Taking the post apocalyptic formula and putting an almost biblical take on it that is hinted at but never truly explored, "Bird Box" is an end of the world thriller with genuinely suspenseful moments that focuses on a group of survivors who must face their own fears in the face of not being able to see.  While most characters are either underused or underdeveloped and the plot isn't quite as ambitious as what it's trying to be, the strong acting and handful of fully realized characters make the film worth while; becoming a 2 hour ride of solid entertainment and enjoyable pacing for the most part....if you're willing to take a look!" ;)

Final Film Verdict: B-