Bird Box was "A Quiet Place, but for sight instead of sound." A comeback movie for Sandra Bullock (who actually never went anywhere). The reason people were posting videos of themselves running into things while blindfolded.
Based on a novel by Josh Malerman, Bird Box takes place at the onset of an apocalypse in which people who catch a glimpse of a mysterious something are instantly driven to commit suicide. A woman named Malorie struggles to survive as everything falls apart. Meanwhile, in interlaced scenes set five years later, Malorie tries against overwhelming odds to get herself and two young children to safety.
Bird Box has a really phenomenal cast, who are really responsible for what's best about the movie. Sandra Bullock is a great anchor, giving a physically demanding performance (as in Gravity) while not losing the drama and emotion amid the technique. John Malkovich plays a wonderfully selfish heel. There's fun character work by BD Wong, Lil Rel Howery, Sarah Paulson, and Tom Hollander, among others.
If you never got around to watching Bird Box, but saw any of the memes of Sandra Bullock and two kids alone in a boat, it may surprise you to hear that all those other people are in the movie. It's really no spoiler to say that this is the sort of movie where characters get killed off, and unfortunately I think the movie gets less interesting as that happens. The performances are great, the interactions are great, and when there are fewer performances and interactions, the movie is less great for it. This isn't a knock on Bullock, who can certainly command the screen on her own (again, as in Gravity); it's more that her character Malorie might be the least interesting character in this story.
Part of the problem is that her character arc doesn't work as well in practice as it does as an intellectual exercise. We learn in the opening minutes of the movie that Malorie is pregnant and far from enthusiastic about it. She's not quite sure she wants a child, and rather sure she won't be good at parenting. Her throughline in the story, the major emotional journey being told, is about her transformation. The idea makes sense for a two-hour movie. The actual plot points that depict this, and the timeline on which it happens, don't make sense at all. It's a back-loaded transformation; the version of Malorie we see in the opening "five years later" scenes hasn't really changed in five years of post-apocalyptic jeopardy. It strains belief.
But then, straining belief is kind of what Bird Box is all about. This is the "Bird Box Challenge" in a nutshell, in which the denizens of the internet blindfold themselves and try to do things. But I say forget the question of whether you could find your way around without sight in a place you've never been. The more unbelievable thing is that anyone could survive in a scenario with the odds this stacked against you. As the movie unfolds, it keeps piling on complications so high that the situation feels too hopeless.
Though I might seem rather down on Bird Box here, the truth is that it works pretty well from moment to moment. There are many clever set pieces and impactful scenes. There's an extended sequence about trying to reach a grocery store for supplies that is just plain neat in concept. The deaths are the perfect blend of fun and horrific. The scenes intended to be suspenseful always are. The more dramatic and serious elements of the story may feel flawed to me, but the thrills and chills the movie is actually built to deliver totally work. (And they're well-supported by a creepy score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.)
I'd give Bird Box a B. I can't help but feel it would have worked better as a novel. After all, when the whole point is that you're threatened by something you can't see, having to picture everything in your mind's eye could only make you empathize better with the characters. On the other hand, the things I liked least about the movie are baked into the story, not problems with the presentation. So I doubt very much I'll ever make time to read the original novel. The movie is good enough for me... and will probably be "good enough" to be worth the time for many of you too.
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