Bird Box is a Netflix original sci-fi/horror film featuring Sandra Bullock that details her character Malorie Haye’s journey to get to a safe haven with her two children in the post apocalypse. Bird Box is a movie that tries to be smart, but ultimately fails in conveying its message.
Conceptually it’s good. The idea that looking at something makes you suicidal is a concept that isn’t new, but it hasn’t been overdone. It takes his inspiration from Lovecraftian horror, in the sense that if you look at the creature, you go crazy. However it just barely misses the mark in being a Lovecraftian horror film, wherein every character in the movie kills themselves right away. There is no one-to-one comparison from an H.P Lovecraft story, but Bird Box definitely has some similarities.
I feel if this movie would have been more clear in what its message if we see each character slowly descend into madness, then try to kill themselves. This rule would apply to EVERY person in the movie, there would be no cult for the monster included in this movie. The cult was a hugely contrived plot mechanism, that was only meant to progress the story.
Let’s take a look at how the monster works to expand that criticism. The author pulled out the mental illness card, being key to their survival, and it makes sense… on the surface. In a short explanation, the monster makes you see your greatest fears, and the reason why some of the psychiatric and mentally unwell survive is because they have lived their greatest fears. If their motivations were to make people see their greatest fears to make them suffer as they did it would not have affected the story in any different way. The same could be achieved if the crazies were just hostile survivors, because after all, the movie isn’t about a psychiatric ward that gets affected, it’s Malorie’s story.
The acting was the best part of the movie. You could tell Sandra Bullock put effort into her performance. Rel Howery and Trevante Rhodes were great in the film, however some of Rel’s line deliveries mixed with awkward editing makes for some unintentionally unfunny moments.
The story was poorly told and the nonlinear structure was detrimental to the overall quality of the movie. The story would not have changed if it was told in a linear fashion. The constant cuts from the past and present takes away the tension and suspense from either time period’s conflict. This just makes the movie boring, because there is no clear focus on what we should care about while watching the film. Do we focus on the characters in the past (who we can probably guess die anyway) or do we focus on the journey with Boy and Girl?
Speaking of Boy and Girl, who are named because Malorie doesn’t want to get attached to them, they do nothing but disobey what they are told to do the entire time just to set up roadblocks for Malorie. They are also the two main drivers of message in the story. This film tries to make you understand the reluctance of motherhood, and it succeeds in making you understand that, after beating that message into your head a thousand times. However, it is somewhat inconsistent, since we see her kind of happy to have those kids and to be in a family. Although it does settle itself in a settling way, where Malorie decides to look to see where to go (which, by the way, any decent human being would do without hesitation) and gives the kids names.
This movie is a 4/10, and it would have been lower if it weren’t for Sandra Bullock because she’s the best part of the movie. The whole thing is boring and predictable and the message of parenthood reared its head for the fiftieth time I audibly said, “Yeah I get it.”
If you have absolutely nothing else to do, I would suggest watching it, or put it on as background noise, otherwise don’t bother wasting your time. Go watch Roma, another Netflix original that deserves infinitely more praise than this movie.
Conceptually it’s good. The idea that looking at something makes you suicidal is a concept that isn’t new, but it hasn’t been overdone. It takes his inspiration from Lovecraftian horror, in the sense that if you look at the creature, you go crazy. However it just barely misses the mark in being a Lovecraftian horror film, wherein every character in the movie kills themselves right away. There is no one-to-one comparison from an H.P Lovecraft story, but Bird Box definitely has some similarities.
I feel if this movie would have been more clear in what its message if we see each character slowly descend into madness, then try to kill themselves. This rule would apply to EVERY person in the movie, there would be no cult for the monster included in this movie. The cult was a hugely contrived plot mechanism, that was only meant to progress the story.
Let’s take a look at how the monster works to expand that criticism. The author pulled out the mental illness card, being key to their survival, and it makes sense… on the surface. In a short explanation, the monster makes you see your greatest fears, and the reason why some of the psychiatric and mentally unwell survive is because they have lived their greatest fears. If their motivations were to make people see their greatest fears to make them suffer as they did it would not have affected the story in any different way. The same could be achieved if the crazies were just hostile survivors, because after all, the movie isn’t about a psychiatric ward that gets affected, it’s Malorie’s story.
The acting was the best part of the movie. You could tell Sandra Bullock put effort into her performance. Rel Howery and Trevante Rhodes were great in the film, however some of Rel’s line deliveries mixed with awkward editing makes for some unintentionally unfunny moments.
The story was poorly told and the nonlinear structure was detrimental to the overall quality of the movie. The story would not have changed if it was told in a linear fashion. The constant cuts from the past and present takes away the tension and suspense from either time period’s conflict. This just makes the movie boring, because there is no clear focus on what we should care about while watching the film. Do we focus on the characters in the past (who we can probably guess die anyway) or do we focus on the journey with Boy and Girl?
Speaking of Boy and Girl, who are named because Malorie doesn’t want to get attached to them, they do nothing but disobey what they are told to do the entire time just to set up roadblocks for Malorie. They are also the two main drivers of message in the story. This film tries to make you understand the reluctance of motherhood, and it succeeds in making you understand that, after beating that message into your head a thousand times. However, it is somewhat inconsistent, since we see her kind of happy to have those kids and to be in a family. Although it does settle itself in a settling way, where Malorie decides to look to see where to go (which, by the way, any decent human being would do without hesitation) and gives the kids names.
This movie is a 4/10, and it would have been lower if it weren’t for Sandra Bullock because she’s the best part of the movie. The whole thing is boring and predictable and the message of parenthood reared its head for the fiftieth time I audibly said, “Yeah I get it.”
If you have absolutely nothing else to do, I would suggest watching it, or put it on as background noise, otherwise don’t bother wasting your time. Go watch Roma, another Netflix original that deserves infinitely more praise than this movie.