Bird Box

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, Danielle Macdonald, Lil Rey Howery, Tom Hollander, Machine Gun Kelly, BD Wong, Pruit Taylor Vince, Vivien Lyra Blair, Julian Edwards, Parminder Nagra
Directed by: Susanne Bier
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Horror, Science Fiction
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A woman (Sandra Bullock) attempts to survive after mysterious creatures arrive. When people look at them, they are immediately driven to kill themselves.

Review:

Tim: Bird Box was a cultural hit for Netflix in December 2018. It seemed like everyone had watched the movie. Strangely, I didn't see the movie until April 2020. I enjoyed the movie and see why people liked it, but in the realm of horror movies, it's not top tier. It hurts that it feels very similar to A Quiet Place, which was a far superior movie. Still, this is a solid movie and it deserved its hit status.

The premise of the movie is a bit harder to swallow than A Quiet Place. Truth be told, I still don't fully understand the creatures. They are invisible, but they can whisper to people. If you look at them, you immediately become filled with overpowering suicidal thoughts. What I don't fully understand is that outside of looking at them, can they harm you? The characters certainly act like they can- running from them, shrinking away in terror, etc. However, you don't actually ever see that happen. If the only way they can hurt you is if you look at them, that feels less of a threat. I didn't understand that aspect of the movie.

If you can swallow this premise, it's kind of a fun story. Imagine if you had to live without looking outside. Every venture out would be fraught with peril- not just the deadly kind, but even mundane things like walking around. You can imagine perpetually bruised shins (which hurts!). It would make survival significantly harder. I enjoyed that aspect of the film. It was fun seeing people attempt to survive without the use of their sight.

What really makes a difference here is the cast. It's surprisingly good. Sandra Bullock is such a good actress and has made hits in so many different genres. It was fun seeing her tackle horror here. She makes a solid protagonist, even if she's not the most sympathetic character (I rolled my eyes hard at "Boy" and "Girl"). Trevante Rhodes was enjoyable as well. He's had a great start to his career, with Moonlight being the biggest film, but some solid supporting turns, too. He's quite effective here. I always love seeing John Malkovich. He was a unlikable character here, but he made you acknowledge his presence and he's memorable. Sarah Paulson and Jackie Weaver were decent in smaller supporting roles. I like Rosa Salazar, but it felt like she made far too little impact on the film. She shouldn't have been an afterthought. Machine Gun Kelly is obviously not a good actor. I was really excited to see both Lil Rel Howery and Tom Hollander- both are distinct actors and added to the film by bringing their unique characters to life. I'm a big fan of BD Wong, too. I wish he had more to do, but he was enjoyable. As a whole, the cast was diverse and really, really good.

I thought the approach to the story was effective as well. We start out on the river, and then see the beginning of the monster plague through flashbacks. We see Bullock's character's progression from the house, to eventually learn how she and the kids ended up on the river. Jumping back and forth through time worked well as a storytelling device here. It kept the audience engaged and filled it pieces of the puzzle so it felt like we had a complete picture by the end of it. There were a few plot holes throughout the movie and it does require some suspension of disbelief- these are obvious shortcomings.

Despite that, I had a fun time watching Bird Box. It's a thoroughly engaging movie and it's a solid horror film. It's a movie I would certainly recommend and I'm glad I finally watched it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Bright, A Quiet Place, Pitch Black, Blindness