Bird Box

Netflix has been heating up nicely under the boiler for the last quarter of a year and has released another solid genre film that appears to be a little sibling to A Quiet Place. Danish director Susanne Bier, from whom I've only seen the solid thriller In a Better World, is definitely a decent director and add to that a perfect Sandra Bullock, a solid John Malkovich and new discovery Trevante Rhodes, who’s starred in The Predator and 12 Strong. Sarah Paulson is also here in a smaller role. Bird Box is a mix of several films at once, but it takes the best of them and makes a tasty post-apocalyptic cocktail that is top-notch in craftsmanship and acting, engaging in plot, and there are a few surprises. The film manages to build tension brilliantly at certain points and there's a bit of gore too, so I can hardly complain. Solid. It's just a shame that the film ends where it could easily have started. 80%. (20/12/2018)

Another attempt at combining horror and social drama, sitting in a corner in the shadow of Darabont’s The Mist. The constant alternation of the two different time planes becomes narratively monotonous after an hour or so. Somehow, with its “relationship content” and all of the clichés it tends to use, it becomes very unlikely that the film may in any way be surprising or bring something new into its subject matter, which resembles that of some recent genre movies. The intriguing premise with a great start fails to fulfill the potential of a decent genre event, leaving only a safe, mainstream drama about the importance of sticking together with a few scary scenes, children at risk and a pleasant Sandra Bullock. It’s not that I didn’t watch it with interest; I just consider it a waste of a great potential. (20/01/2019)

Netflix, a good director, decent idea and actors. That’s becoming a synonym for 2018. I hope that sticks with the years to come as Birdbox is quite a good apocalyptic drama I could imagine as a series. What makes me happy is that Sandra Bullock again proved herself to be a great actress. Not many people appreciate her, still I think she deserves some respect. Similarly to the plot of the movie which kept me on the edge of my seat from start to end. However I know how hard it is to walk blindfolded through the forest – had the honor on a team-building exercise I went to – and the characters in this movie made it seem all too easy. It’s true that the plot is a bit naive yet under Susanne Bier’s baton it works perfectly and the movie deserves attention. (31/12/2018)

The American movie Bird Box, an original Netflix production, is a good horror movie. It is a very well-put-together horror movie with a pretty good ending that, although I admit I was not expecting it, seems pretty obvious after you first see it. Still, I could not shake the feeling that this was something I had seen before in A Quiet Place, and that movie got to me a bit more than this. (02/10/2019)

Anyone could admit  that it is only a facsimile of A Quiet Place, however, Bird Box cannot be denied its own merit and the fact that it goes off in a different direction. From a technical and acting point of view, it is a great achievement (I think that more time and space could have been given to John Malkovich’s character especially, I would have appreciated that). However, the retrospective narration was painful - and, because of it, you could predict how the movie would turn out from the beginning concerning most of the characters, so there are no real surprises when something really bad happens. The audience is thus unnecessarily deprived of suspense, and it is impossible to generate an emotional connection with the characters from the start, which is a great shame with this type of movie. Also, perhaps only those with the sunniest of dispositions could have actually believed the ending. (11/01/2019)