Netflix’s “Bird Box”: Movie Review
January 14, 2019
Starring Sandra Bullock, Netflix’s “Bird Box” was a Twitter, Instagram, and meme hit when it was released on Dec. 13, 2018. “Bird Box” tells the story of a lost woman named Malorie, who is searching to find a connection with her pregnancy.
Chaos soon strikes when a mysterious force starts causing terror and mass suicide. Even while searching to find herself; Malorie, as well as everyone else, must find a way to survive. Whoever is left must complete their trip blindfolded, unless they want fear to take them over.
Not only are the characters unable to see, but the audience is left blind with constant plot holes seen throughout the movie. While watching a movie, the audience
develops attachments to the characters and are following the plot line as if they are living through it themselves. The plot holes, inconsistencies with character development and storyline, can take an audience member out of the magic of watching the movie. These consistent holes through the movie interrupts the flow that lets the movie be believable, or at least followable.
Secondly, all connection possible to the characters is quickly stripped away. With the thrusts back and forth from past to present, the confused viewers never know which Malorie follow and which to connect to. The year-long story of her issues with connection concerning her pregnancy are built up from the beginning, but still at the end she is left naming the two children she was never able to connect with ‘boy’ and ‘girl’. Other characters either are not around long or are not loveable enough for the audience to care. Overall, it was hard, if not impossible, to connect to any of the actors.
Seemingly, the worst part of the film was the second antagonist; the “others.” These are the people who thrived off the fear they received from the creature and would even go as far as to force others to open their eyes, causing them to commit suicide. This was not only confusing, but offensive to some. The “others” were portrayed as villians, but were stereotyped as people with mental health issues. Not only was this nonsensical, it was a bad portrayal of mental illnesses
The “Bird Box” hype was initially intriguing; the story of a creature so scary those can not lay eyes upon it, and it has potential to entertain the top thrill seekers. Watching the movie ended up being a ride itself, with constant moving back and forth between confusion and frustration. The “Bird Box,” although being popular, was a disappointing film that was hard to connect to, hard to follow, and overall difficult to enjoy.
