Bird Box Netflix Original Movie Review
Major Spoilers are included in this movie review. Please read with caution.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday. I have watched a couple of movies during the Holiday season and decided to review them for your convenience. This is the Netflix Original everyone is talking about right now, Bird Box, and a well-done movie with A-list performers like Sandra Bullock and Sarah Paulson. However, Sandra Bullock is our protagonist and carries so much of the movie on her shoulders.
The plot of the movie is that “creatures” have invaded the planet and causes people to commit suicide upon sight. These “creatures” later evolve and infect some people to force others to see them. We are never really clued into what they are but that wasn’t really the point of the movie. Although, at the same time, I don’t think anyone working on the movie could’ve put together the creatures effectively for the general audience. Leaving it to the imagination was the best choice. It added to the movie-watching experience.
Bullock’s character is Malorie. The movie is broken into two timelines: the present and five years earlier before the Apocalypse arrived. The opening of the movie set up the stakes by having Malorie instruct two unnamed children (“Boy” and “Girl”) about never removing their blindfolds. She is direct with them about the consequences if they do not listen to what she has to say.
The shifting between the two stories works for the most part. It helps the audience understand the key points in Malorie’s character journey and how she became this ruthless survivor. The scenes start to parallel or juxtaposition off one another to enhance Malorie’s decisions with Boy and Girl. When we discovered Boy was her biological child in addition to Girl’s “reckless” behavior on the boat, the pure weight of Malorie’s choice to make one of them look became much heavier and tense.
In my great professional opinion, this horror movie was a combination of The Purge and A Quiet Place. Mostly The Purge when Olympia, the other pregnant woman, opened the door for the insane man who killed the majority of the cast. Yes, we all blame her. Go look at the memes. Unlike A Quiet Place’s lack of sound, Bird Box has the characters blinded whenever they had to go outside, making simple tasks like going grocery shopping a high stakes journey.
Overall, a fantastic movie carried on with great characters like Malorie, Tom, Olympia, and Douglas. Let’s talk about Douglas, the most awful character in the entire movie. He isn’t an antagonist, but more a reluctant supporting character crafted intentionally blunt and unlikable. We’re meant to dislike him for his behavior, lack of empathy, and the one thing that makes him sympathetic is his wife dying to save Malorie. This review would’ve been incomplete if I didn’t mention Douglas.
Go on Netflix, then Twitter for the memes. You’ll have fun. Happy Holidays!