Bird Box

What’s in a name?

My journey to watching this movie was a funny one. My husband and kids watched it before me as I was busy with other things. I watched snippets of the movie over their shoulders and got a general idea of what the movie was about. When I did finally watch it, I was intrigued about the choice of title — Bird Box. Why Bird Box? Birds did play a part in the movie but it wasn’t such a major part - Was it?. The film is about strange sightings of invisible creatures and voices that induce people to self-harm and/or commit suicide. The directors, producers, and screenwriters must have decided and settled on a short name I guess

I don’t know the processes involved in choosing movie titles but I decided to come up with some creative titles of my own. These are some of the titles I came up with — Self-Harm; Invisible Death; Dead Voices; River Escape; Unsafe House, Mystery Voices, Deadly Sight, and Unseen. Anyways, what I think (or don’t think) about the title doesn’t matter really. Netflix announced that a whopping 45 million accounts watched this movie in its opening week. The viewers have given their verdict — Bird Box it is!

About Bird Box

Bird Box is a 2018 psychological thriller written by Eric Heisserer based on Josh Malerman’s novel of the same name and directed by Susanne Bier. The movie stars Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Machine Gun Kelly, Danielle MacDonald, Tom Hollander, Vivien Lyra Blair, and Julian Edwards among others.

Synopsis

Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock) is a tough and somewhat jaded pregnant artist conflicted about the birth of her child. Her sister, Jessica (Sarah Paulson) and she have a somewhat estranged relationship with their mum. Both sisters are caught up when a mysterious pandemic affecting some parts of the world arrives in their town. People see strange creatures, hear voices, and then commit self-harm or suicide. Unfortunately, Jessica is affected and they have an accident after which she walks in front of a speeding truck leaving Malorie in the street. Some people help her into a house where several others are hiding. They keep safe by closing the windows and covering their eyes anytime they admit a new person into the house.

Olympia (Danielle Macdonald) another pregnant woman is admitted into the house. When supplies run low, they divide themselves into groups for a supply run at the grocery store. Malorie takes a cage of birds as pets later realizing the birds can sense the presence of the invisible creatures. Unfortunately, one of them sacrifices himself when they are attacked. After the supply run, a young couple, Felix (Machine Gun Kelly) and Lucy (Rosa Salazar) steal the car and run off at night. Later, Olympia admits Gary (Tom Hollander) into the house against the advice of Douglas (John Malkovich)

Olympia and Malorie go into labor almost simultaneously. Cheryl (Jackie Weaver) assists each of them in birthing their babies. Downstairs, Gary brings out pictures of the strange creatures and as if possessed tears down the binds and coverings from the windows and opens the garage door. He goes upstairs and opens the windows urging them all to ‘see’. Malorie succeeds in getting Olympia’s baby away from her before she jumps out the window killing herself. She hides herself and the 2 babies under a blanket. Gary forces Cheryl’s eyes open after which she stabs herself to death with a pair of scissors. Gary tries to expose Malorie and the children but Tom (Trevante Rhodes) gets there in time to overpower and kill Gary.

Tom and Malorie now lovers, raise the 2 children named boy and girl for 5 years before they are attacked by a group of men possessed by the invisible creatures. Tom tells Malorie to take the children and get to the river. He has to remove his blindfold to defend them and is exposed. He manages to shoot the attackers but then shoots himself. Malorie takes the children and the birds by boat across the river intending to get to a safe house.

The boat capsizes and they almost drown but are able to make it across. Once on shore, the children must trust Malorie and their survival instincts to avoid succumbing to the voices bidding them to remove their blindfolds. Though chased by the creatures and hounded by the voices, they make it to the safehouse just in time. They understand why the house is safe — it is a school for the blind. They are unaffected by the creatures because they cannot see. The school doubles as a conservatory for different bird species. The birds alert them to the presence of the creatures.

The movie ends with Malorie meeting her Gynaecologist, freeing the birds, and naming the children Tom and Olympia.

Social Relevance

The movie discusses several themes including Pregnancy, Motherhood, Childbirth, Childhood Trauma, Love and Relationships, Trust, Sacrifice, Brotherhood and Sisterhood, Self-Harm, and Suicide.

Conclusion

Bird Box is an apocalyptic movie that gives another angle to world-ending events. Sandra, Vivien, and Julian give outstanding performances, especially in the river and forest scenes.

Have you watched Bird Box? What are your thoughts?

Viewing Advisory

This movie contains scenes of self-harm, mass suicide, violence, nudity, and sex