Malorie (Sandra Bullock) explains to a boy and a girl never to remove their blindfolds and to listen to her instructions, or they will die. Keeping their eyes covered, they get in a boat and head down a river. They have a long journey ahead of them.
Five years earlier, Malorie is painting in her studio and her sister Jessica (Sarah Paulson) takes her to the hospital for a pregnancy check-up. They see a TV report on mass suicides happening in Europe. On their way out of the hospital, people start acting erratically and panic across town ensues. In the car, they see cars crashing, explosions and people committing suicide. Jessica sees an unknown entity and loses herself, causing her to crash the car. Jessica gets out of the wreck and steps in front of an oncoming truck. She is called and helped into a house of survivors. Douglas' (John Malkovich) wife fell victim to the entity and killed herself while saving Malorie.
The owner of the house, Greg (BD Wong), uses the security footage to try and get a look at what is turning people. He's affected by the entity and kills himself in his office. They realize there isn't enough food for everyone and they create a plan to safely drive to the grocery store. Malorie, Douglas, Tom (Trevante Rhodes), Charlie (Lil Rel Howery) and Lucy (Rosa Salazar) get in the blacked-out vehicle and use GPS navigation to get to the store. Charlie uses his keys to get in and they fill up carts with supplies. Malorie finds three birds in a cage and takes them with her. They hear someone calling for help from the loading docks, Charlie recognizes the man and stops him from opening the door, locking himself inside with him. Blood spills from the other side of the door.
The rest of them make it back to the house safely. Lucy and Felix (Machine Gun Kelly) steal the car and leave the rest of them without transportation. Pregnant survivor Olympia (Danielle MacDonald) lets a strange survivor, Gary (Tom Hollander), into the house. Douglas wants him to leave but he's knocked out and locked in the garage. Soon after, both Olympia and Malorie go into labor and deliver their babies. Gary knocks Tom unconscious, kills Douglas and forces Olympia to look at the entity causing her to commit suicide. Tom saves Malorie and the newborns.
Five years later, Malorie and Tom live together with the children she named Boy and Girl. They pick up a radio signal claiming there's a safe haven for survivors downriver. A group of armed survivors find their home and want them to look at the entity. Tom sacrifices himself, killing all of the insane people, but kills himself after seeing the entity. Malorie and the children escape with the birds to the boat and start their journey downstream.
After 14 hours on the river, Malorie and the children hear a voice telling them to take their blindfolds off. Malorie is attacked by a man who wants her to see the beauty. She kills him with a machete and they continue downstream. 10 hours later, the boy falls out of the boat and the supplies are lost. She warns the children of the upcoming rapids and ultimately decides neither of them will have to guide the way by taking off their blindfold. The boat flips over and Malorie recovers the children and makes it to shore. The entity attempts to trick them into removing their blindfolds but they prevail. They follow the chirping of thousands of birds to the sanctuary concluding their 42-hour journey.Malorie discovers the community is a school for the blind, who are immune to the entity. She gives the children their names, Olympia and Tom, and releases the birds from the box.
Bird Box generated a buzz when it was released to Netflix during the holidays. Before I even knew of it, I was recommended to watch it by a few of my friends that enjoy horror movies. After watching Bird Box, I don't exactly get why this film was hyped to the extent it was. There are some twists and turns, but I didn't feel much at all for the characters.
Sandra Bullock plays Malorie, a soon-to-be single mother that plans not to have any care or love for her child. She's given an adaption pamphlet at her pregnancy checkup. We receive no details into her life or who the father might be. She's bitter and unlikeable from the very beginning. She's very strict towards the children because she thinks giving them an imagination could result in their deaths. For the first five years of their lives, she gives them the names Boy and Girl... seriously? Serious as taking off a blindfold.
John Malkovich's character Douglas has a similar cynical personality to Malorie, except he was more rational in his thinking, even when he was drunk. The bright spot in this cast is Trevante Rhodes, the star of Moonlight, who plays Tom. He shows affection towards Malorie and they end up being the last to survive with a need to take care of the children. The two other interesting cameos came from Tom Hollander and Machine Gun Kelly. I was unaware MGK had a career in acting, alas, his screen time was limited to a brief sex scene.
There are some plot points that don't make a whole lot of sense. Why does the entity affect people differently? Why are some enlightened by it and others kill themselves? If one sees it and doesn't commit suicide, how do they survive afterward? How did the birds in the box live for five years and survive the rapids? These are questions that don't have much explanation.
Bird Box mostly reminds me of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, with all the unprecedented suicides. Luckily, Bird Box has a better conclusion than The Happening, but still leaves us with too many unanswered questions. The wind blowing leaves around is all we see of the entity and it just isn't scary. I recommend you skip the film unless you're really into post-apocalyptic thrillers.
2/4
