Film Review: 'Bird Box' (2018)

The film opens with aunts ( Sandra Bullock ) who advise the two children ( Julian Edwards and Lyra Blair ), just before they ride the canoe on a river. We will not know whether the two children are their children or not. His advice is not playful. His tone was very pushy, similar to the intonation of grandma who offered us homemade cakes when we were going home.

"You have to do whatever I tell you or we won't survive, understand ?!" cried the aunt. "Whatever happens, you can't open the blindfold, understand ?!" What really happened? Why is the aunt tight? And, where do they want to take the boat?

It didn't take long for us to know that. Bird Box immediately revealed the concept: opening eyes is like suicide. Literally. There are monsters out there that shouldn't be seen at all with the eyes. While the sense of sight is probably the most important sense for humans. So how can we survive? This is another horror film with a simple, brilliant premise. Unfortunately, Bird Box focuses on the wrong point. He did not explore the premise optimally, instead of giving us a cliche that was too familiar.

We were taken to five years ago. The aunt who turned out to be named Malorie was a prospective mother who was pregnant, but she wasn't sure if she would raise her child or not. Accompanied by his sister ( Sarah Paulson ) to control the hospital, they both talked about news on TV which discussed mass suicide in the opposite city. But this tragedy apparently arrived here. Malorie watched a hospital patient banging his head brutally against a glass wall. He and his brother immediately fled, but the disaster seemed to have plagued the streets. We are then shown with massive chaos; the car collided and caught fire, people screamed and covered in blood.

The cause is a mysterious monster. Its existence can be felt, or not. What it looks like. We, the audience, will not see the monster. Maybe you should, because people in the film see it and after that, they want to kill themselves immediately. Crashing into a car, plunging from the building, stabbing the body with a knife, going into the flames. Anyway, whatever method is the most practical and sadistic. This sequence is pretty scary. Besides being effective in its handling, it also appropriately exploits our fundamental fear entity, which is something we do not know; we don't understand something fully but have the potential to make us unable to see tomorrow.

However, the tension quickly evaporated, because it felt like we were watching one more movie zombie apocalypse, it's just without zombies. The situation becomes very familiar. Some people with different characters and motives gather in one house to survive. Some are good, some are insolent, some are tough, some are resigned, some are paranoid, there is a debate, and so on and so on. Although played with a variety of casts, including John Malkovich, Jackie Weaver, Trevante Rhodes, BD Wong, and Machine Gun Kelly, their characters are trapped in film cliches. We can almost guess everything they will do later.

Fortunately, tension can be repeatedly raised up through anything involving the "don't see" premise. There is a scene where the occupants of the house must drive a car with all the glass conditions, drive blindly to find food. And of course, when we are brought back to the next five years where Malorie paddles the boat to take her two children to a place. Sandra Bullock has no doubt. He can sell anything convincingly. For example, Bullock has MLM, I must have become a downline unconsciously.

Regarding the film's title, "Bird Box" refers to the fact that birds cannot be influenced by the monster, they can even feel the existence of the monster. While there are bird sounds, the area is safe. I don't know what about cows, pangolins or tapirs. But carrying birds is easier for Malorie. One more fact that was told by the film was that there were humans who turned out to be able to survive despite seeing the monster. They are fine, even happier. What we are not told is what form or where and why the monster attacked. I know sometimes we don't need an explanation, but in this case, it seems necessary.

Many compare this film with A Quiet Place, John Krasinski, and I can see the similarities. The variation is in "do not speak" which is replaced by "do not see". Even so, like the Bird Box is not cheating, because it was adapted from Josh Malerman novel released in 2014. But there is a small difference between the two. A Quiet Place is more interesting because it focuses on the concept as psychological horror. The existence of monsters is relatively only a plot mechanics. We sit tight watching because the film is intimate and we care about the fate of the character. On the other hand, Bird Box only gives us generic characterization. The impression was, he was like half dead wanting to have a monster. What kept me from watching was because I wanted to see and know more about the monster.

Movie Trailer

Director: Susanne Bier
Writer: Eric Heisserer (screenplay), Josh Malerman (novel)
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Julian Edwards, Lyra Blair, John Malkovich
Producer: Chris Morgan, Scott Stuber, Dylan Clark, Clayton Townsend
Cinematographer: Salvatore Totino Trent Reznor,
Release: December 21, 2018
Duration: 124 minutes