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)

A similarly conceived atmospheric group survival like A Quiet Place, or the slightly more pompous and louder World War Z, two films dealing with a global apocalypse and the initial inability to locate why, or even how to defend oneself. Unlike its competitors, Bird Box doesn't go the route of flashy kills or massive shots of tons of dead bodies. Instead, it plays an interesting game between a group of people, led by the initially slightly controversial mother Sandra Bullock, and an invisible evil. It's a film that surprisingly isn't about being out there, and to make that very clear, it's very slow and hard to find out what's actually going on. Instead, Susanne BIer plays a rather sophisticated and entertaining game about the fact that the absolutely key clue to victory is family cohesion, dreams and the will to go on no matter what. All this in a non-pathetic, light and perhaps even "fun" way that does not outright bring pain. I would ignore the experts who will bitterly complain that they didn't get the explanation they needed. There's an abundance of it, it can be taken at any time, you just need to watch carefully, because sometimes the greatest danger may not be visible at first sight. (17/02/2019)

One of the best directorial works by Susanne Bier, who has endured the dangers of a film in which a piece of hypersensitive kitsch is definitely dormant. But, folks, Sandra is great and Trevante Rhodes shows that his special fragility is as astounding as his musculature. Screenwriter Erik Heisserer is an aspirant and intends to specialize in female alien encounters ... which is why the structure of the two alternating levels of storytelling works very well. Bird Box has a nice rhythm and does not drag, and moreover, it avoids the absurd escalation that damaged the similarly tuned A Quiet Place. It's a bit unfortunate that the point itself feels a little lost, and the main character, despite trying to question her relationship to unwanted motherhood, never quite goes deep enough. But chattering aside, this is very solid genre work in all respects, also because the creators eventually gathered enough courage not to show the evil at all. I wish their Hollywood colleagues would take an example from them. One of the best Netflix originals and a dignified reparation for ultimate evil from Shyamalan's The Happening. (18/01/2019)

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)

For me, on the same level of A Quiet Place (which I actually liked a little bit less than the average rating would suggest), though it also has some passages that will make a sane viewer facepalm. The behaviour of the characters doesn’t correspond to what would be sensible a given situation (can anyone explain me why nobody paid attention to the guy who in the flashback was experimenting with cameras around the house?). Taken as a whole, however, it’s professionally put together, with solid performances and direction. But expecting a masterpiece would be a mistake. (16/12/2018)