Bird Box is the new major blockbuster movie from Netflix that has made the headlines recently. It is about a post-apocalyptic world which gets invaded by a mysterious species and leads to humanity’s extinction. It feels like A Quiet Place except you replace the noise with sight. Anyone who catches even a glimpse of the creature can end up taking their own life. It is an interesting premise–that in theory–could have worked out really well. It, unfortunately, isn’t executed out well despite two of the leads doing a great job with their role.
Sandra Bullock plays a pregnant mother in Bird Box. The opening is intense and immediately draws your attention to the subject, but it suffers due to the poor editing. The film uses flashback to tell what happened to Sandra Bullock in the past coupled with flash-forwards to the present where most of the ending takes place. This method would work well if the editing was good, but it feels like the movie’s quality is all over the place. The script is weak, character development can happen suddenly and without any meaning leaving you scratching your head at what just happened. It is hard to like any of the cast members save for the kids and Sandra Bullock.
Bird Box is an interesting experiment from Netflix that could have played out well if the editing was a lot more coherent. It is also coming out after the amazing ‘A Quiet Place’ so this means that it will be hard not to draw a comparison with the movie here. The difference between both is that ‘A Quiet Place’ is a suspenseful thriller from the beginning until the end with wonderful characters and great editing. It suffers due to the rather abrupt nature of its ending but mostly maintains a great pace and keeps the viewers engaged. Bird Box is over two hours long which should offer an ample amount of time to know the characters, but they are not developed that well.
Almost all the cast members are forgettable and hence the emotional scenes lack an impact. You just shrug and move on to the next story event after witnessing each death in Bird Box. The mystery surrounding the creatures is intriguing, but the movie tries hard to make them feel like a threat. It is never explained what they are, or what kind of powers they have over the humans. I also found out some awkward scenes that felt forced in the story and not playing it out naturally. These usually are intimate love scenes that don’t make sense in a story where the world around you is in complete ruin. Some of these happen right after some major tragic event, and this is another issue that I had with the movie.
Bird Box never explains how fast the time is progressing during every scenario. You just have to guess it yourself because the movie’s editing is that bad. Sandra Bullock starts off pregnant and has a kid by the middle of the movie, so you have a frame of reference for the time, but these kids grow up by a few years and it is never properly explained how they manage to survive so long. The frequent flashbacks and forwards create an uneven pace since you already know the fate of most of the characters, so why bother showing what will happen to them.
Overall, I will have to say that Bird Box was a mediocre movie that is only watchable because it is available for free on Netflix. You don’t have to spend any money on it unless you bought Netflix just to watch it, in which case, I do feel bad for you.
