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Review: Netflix’s ‘Bird Box’ is an Ambitious Post-Apocalyptic Adaptation

Published

5 years ago

December 21, 2018

Based on Josh Malerman’s 2014 novel of the same name, Netflix’s Bird Box is a post-apocalyptic tale of family, sacrifice, and survival.

In Bird Box, the world is suddenly thrown into chaos with the arrival of new and mysterious beings. Anyone who sees one of these creatures will immediately lose their mind with fear, causing deadly harm to themselves and others. The film follows Malorie (Sandra Bullock, Gravity) as she takes refuge in a house with a group of strangers, all trying to adapt to this new and horrific reality.

Part of what makes Malerman’s novel so effective is that the book challenges our other senses as a reader. Malorie can’t see what’s happening, so the most horrific scenes rely on her description of what she senses, hears, and feels. Our imagination runs wild to create our own idea of what the creatures might look like.

It’s a phenomenal story that’s brilliantly written (you really should read it), but it’s a difficult book to adapt to a visual medium.

Writer Eric Heisserer (Arrival, Lights Out) and Award-winning director Susanne Bier (In a Better World, Brothers) find some creative workarounds to keep the momentum going. For example, the housemates black out the windows of a car and use parking sensors to navigate a supply run. But when you’re relying so heavily on the actor’s reactions to what they hear, it’s hard to maintain that tension.

One of the film’s strongest scenes is the sudden, chaotic societal unraveling as this strange epidemic sweeps through the city. The fear is palpable as panic sets in — no one knows what’s going on.

This scene is followed by the introduction of several characters all at once, which presents a different kind of chaos. The strangers talk over each other and speculate on what exactly is happening. Admittedly, this scene feels rushed and cluttered, and ends on a bit of a confusing note as the group suddenly lands on an explanation for these catastrophic otherworldly events.

As far as exposition goes, it’s like a whack to the back of the head with a baseball bat; it’s blunt, it’s fast, and you’re not really sure where it came from.

The cast is stacked with strong performers including John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich), Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story), Trevante Rhodes (The Predator), Lil Rel Howery (Get Out), Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$), Tom Hollander (Gosford Park), and the aforementioned Sandra Bullock,

As is expected with a large cast in a horror film, many are there for the purpose of being written out. Which is – again – expected, but the way they make their exit doesn’t always make a ton of sense.

Of course, as with any adaptation, scenes and timelines need to be condensed, and certain beats need to be hit for the story to progress. But it’s another element of the film that really feels rushed, and arguably, this is an area that shouldn’t be.

Another challenge of adaptations is the pacing, and Bird Box is a tricky film to pace. Each scene is an alternating “chapter” in the life of Malorie, switching between the events of the present (as she navigates rough terrain with her children in the search for safe haven), and memories of the past (that explain how they got to this point in their lives).

The transitions between the scenes – for the most part – are pretty smooth, though it does throw a bit of a wrench into the momentum of the film. However, the time slip does give a breather between events, which helps smooth out the storytelling and stretches the intensity.

Though Malorie is very pregnant, she’s neither invested in nor prepared to be a mother. Bird Box puts a focus on Malorie’s identity as a mother and how her cautious survival mindset has affected her children and their relationship as a family.

When you get down to it, Bird Box is all about this concept of family. It’s about what we learn from them, and how we relate to each family member. It challenges the idea of what makes a family and how those bonds are formed. It highlights what it means to be a family.

Malorie – as a character – is consistently strong. She’s outspoken, confident, and comfortable wielding a shotgun. Bullock embodies the character with ease, bringing her relatable charm and candor to the role. And in a time where there’s an industry double-standard for the age differences in on-screen relationships, it’s great to see Bullock turn the tables on that trope. Take that, Tom Cruise.

Book-to-film adaptations are always tricky, and – as previously stated – this is a particularly difficult book to adapt for a visual medium. As a two-hour movie, Bird Box rushes some scenes while others linger a bit too long.

That said, these lingering moments flesh out the film with a realistically complex humanity. Under Bier’s direction, the film is enriched with strong emotion and some well-executed moments of tense horror.

Bird Box is an intense ambitious, creeping thriller about survival and sacrifice, and the lasting effect they have on family. It’s a serviceable adaptation that doesn’t quite meet its full potential, but – to pull a lesson from the film itself – there are far worse things you could see.

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News

‘Happy Death Day 3’ Only Needs Greenlight From Studio

Published

17 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Jessica Rothe who is currently starring in the ultra-violent Boy Kills World talked to ScreenGeek at WonderCon and gave them an exclusive update about her franchise Happy Death Day.

The horror time-looper is a popular series that did pretty well at the box office especially the first one which introduced us to the bratty Tree Gelbman (Rothe) who is being stalked by a masked killer. Christopher Landon directed the original and its sequel Happy Death Day 2U.

^{Happy Death Day 2U}

According to Rothe, a third is being proposed, but two major studios need to sign off on the project. Here is what Rothe had to say:

“Well, I can say Chris Landon has the whole thing figured out. We just need to wait for Blumhouse and Universal to get their ducks in a row. But my fingers are so crossed. I think Tree [Gelbman] deserves her third and final chapter to bring that incredible character and franchise to a close or a new beginning.”

The movies delve into sci-fi territory with their repeated wormhole mechanics. The second leans heavily into this by utilizing an experimental quantum reactor as a plot device. Whether this apparatus will play into the third film isn’t clear. We will have to wait for the studio’s thumbs up or thumbs down to find out.

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Movies

Will ‘Scream VII’ Focus on The Prescott Family, Kids?

Published

20 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Since the beginning of the Scream franchise, it seems there have been NDAs handed out to the cast to not reveal any plot details or casting choices. But clever internet sleuths can pretty much find anything these days thanks to the World Wide Web and report what they find as conjecture instead of fact. It’s not the best journalistic practice, but it gets buzz going and if Scream has done anything well over the past 20-plus years it’s creating buzz.

In the latest speculation of what Scream VII will be about, horror movie blogger and deduction king Critical Overlord posted in early April that casting agents for the horror movie are looking to hire actors for children’s roles. This has led to some believing Ghostface will target Sidney’s family bringing the franchise back to its roots where our final girl is once again vulnerable and afraid.

'SCREAM VII' will reportedly include Sidney Prescott's family as leads.

"They are looking to cast Sid's two kids. It seems like the movie will focus on Sid's family as all 4 (her, her husband and 2 kids) are listed as leads."

(Via: @DanielRPK) #ScreamVII pic.twitter.com/TPdkE1WbOa
— CriticalOverlord (@CriticalOverlo3) April 6, 2024

It is common knowledge now that Neve Campbell is returning to the Scream franchise after being low-balled by Spyglass for her part in Scream VI which led to her resignation. It’s also well-known that Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega won’t be back any time soon to play their respective roles as sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter. Execs scrambling to find their bearings got broadsided when director Cristopher Landon said he would also not be going forward with Scream VII as originally planned.

Enter Scream creator Kevin Williamson who is now directing the latest installment. But the Carpenter’s arc has been seemingly scrapped so which direction will he take his beloved films? Critical Overlord seems to think it will be a familial thriller.

This also piggy-backs news that Patrick Dempsey might return to the series as Sidney’s husband which was hinted at in Scream V. Additionally, Courteney Cox is also considering reprising her role as the badass journalist-turned-author Gale Weathers.

As the film starts filming in Canada sometime this year, it will be interesting to see how well they can keep the plot under wraps. Hopefully, those who don’t want any spoilers can avoid them through production. As for us, we liked an idea that would bring the franchise into the mega-meta universe.

This will be the third Scream sequel not directed by Wes Craven.

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Movies

‘Late Night With the Devil’ Brings The Fire to Streaming

Published

22 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Timothy Rawles

With as successful as a niche independent horror film can be at the box office, Late Night With the Devil is doing even better on streaming.

The halfway-to-Halloween drop of Late Night With the Devil in March wasn’t out for even a month before it headed to streaming on April 19 where it remains as hot as Hades itself. It has the best opening ever for a movie on Shudder.

In its theatrical run, it is reported that the film took in $666K at the end of its opening weekend. That makes it the highest-grossing opener ever for a theatrical IFC film.

_{Late Night With the Devil}

“Coming off a record-breaking theatrical run, we’re thrilled to give Late Night its streaming debut on Shudder, as we continue to bring our passionate subscribers the very best in horror, with projects that represent the depth and breadth of this genre,” Courtney Thomasma, the EVP of streaming programming at AMC Networks told CBR. “Working alongside our sister company IFC Films to bring this fantastic film to an even broader audience is another example of the great synergy of these two brands and how the horror genre continues to resonate and be embraced by fans.”

Sam Zimmerman, Shudder’s VP of Programming loves that Late Night With the Devil fans are giving the film a second life on streaming.

“Late Night’s success across streaming and theatrical is a win for the kind of inventive, original genre that Shudder and IFC Films aim for,” he said. “A huge congratulations to the Cairnes and the fantastic filmmaking team.”

Since the pandemic theatrical releases have had a shorter shelf life in multiplexes thanks to the saturation of studio-owned streaming services; what took several months to hit streaming a decade ago now only takes several weeks and if you happen to be a niche subscription service like Shudder they can skip the PVOD market altogether and add a film directly to their library.

Late Night With the Devil is also an exception because it received high praise from critics and therefore word of mouth fueled its popularity. Shudder subscribers can watch Late Night With the Devil right now on the platform.