Birdboxing, blindfolding persons to perform stunts, is the new Youtube sensation inspired from the Birdbox film currently streaming off of Netflix. The film was released on December 13, 2018 and directed by Susanne Bier. She directed In a Better World (2010), the Danish film, that won the Best Foreign Language Film. The screenplay is by Eric Heisserer who also wrote the screenplay for Arrival (2016). It is based on the novel by Josh Malerman. The film opens over a river cutting through a forest while a voice says there is safety in a community. Then, we get a closeup of Sandra Bullock’s character, Malorie Hayes, warning her children, a boy (Julian Edwards) and a girl (Vivien Lyra Blair), about the river trip even though the radio voice said it would be dangerous for kids. Bullock also serves as executive producer for the movie. There is also the music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, they won the Academy Award for The Social Network (2010),, the duo worked on Jonah Hill’s film Mid90s. She tells them not to make noise or take off their blindfolds. The situation is similar to A Quiet Place, but in this case, to not only speak, but not to see. Malorie takes her two birds from their cage into a box. Blindfolded they make their way to string, Malorie carries the girl, the boy holds her side. She uncovers a boat that was hidden and puts the kids inside to push it to the river. We get a flashback of five years with Malorie painting. Jessica Hayes, her sister, is played by Sarah Paulson and she points out that the emergency is on the news. Paulson is known for American Horror Story, and last year was in Ocean’s Eight with Bullock. Mass suicides are breaking out that started in Romania. Malorie’s painting has people who are lonely. Jessica fears that Malorie will be lonely even though she is going to have a baby. Of course, it seems like Jessica is not in the future.
Dr. Lapham (Parminder Nagra) checks on the baby, Malorie doesn’t seem eager for the baby, and Dr. Lapham gives her a pamphlet about adoption. Malorie starts walking down the hospital corridor and the woman she saw earlier is bashing her head against a window until she is bloody. She runs to the car, Malorie explains to her sister that the Russian plague is here. Jessica wants to go to her place in Santa Rosa, away from people, they are surrounded by the chaos of people. She gets the red eyed glare and starts driving recklessly so Malorie tries to get the jeep under control. It flips over and Jessica walks into the street. Malorie has to escape, she’s on the street, when a woman, Lydia, notices she’s pregnant and tries to help her. She gets the glare talking to her mother and climbs into a burning car. A man, Tom (Trevante Rhodes), and a woman, Lucy (Rosa Salazar) who says she’s a police officer, join Malorie in trying to enter the house. Rhodes was in Moonlight (2016) and 2018’s The Predator. Salazar was in the Maze Runner films including last year’s The Death Cure and has upcoming Alita: Battle Angel. Douglas (John Malkovich), the husband of Lydia doesn’t want her in, the house is owned by Greg (BD Wong) who allows them in. Malkovich is a well known actor, of course in Being John Malkovich (1999), last year he was in the action movie Mile 22. Wong is in Gotham and Mr. Robot television series, and last year was in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The survivors try to discuss what is going on. There is an older woman, Cheryl (Jacki Weaver), a tattooed rocker, Felix (Colson Baker), and a novelist, Charlie (Lil Rel Howery) who seems to have idea of the creatures. Howery of course was in Get Out (2017) and has his comedy Rel. It feels like the apocalyptic survivors of Walking Dead, but it reminds me of the tv mini-series The Langoliers (1995) based on the Stephen King story. Later, Malorie tries to sleep and sees shadowy forms pass in the window. Then, there it is 6 hours later on the river, the boat is covered and the children are sleeping.
Malorie tries to feed the birds in the box with the droplets on her fingers. It seems that Sandra Bullock is again playing a survivor like Gravity (2013), but in this case she down on Earth with children. She tries to contact someone on the walkie talkie and identifies herself. Then, she hears her name whispered. At the house, on the radio station, the announcer warns not to go outside and look at anything. They hear a knocking at the door, a desperate woman, Olympia (Danielle Macdonald), and Malorie pulls his shotgun on him. Tom instructs the woman to cover herself before entering. She covers her eyes and enters, also pregnant. Douglas questions Malorie using the shotgun and she expertly ejects the shells. Greg has an idea and shows them the heat sensing camera that are around the house. They tie him in a chair to see if Greg is affected and leave the room. The survivors try to settle down. Greg sees wind blow leaves, and a dark shadow, his eyes are red. They hear thumping and rush to check on Greg. He falls and cracks his head bleeding while the others try to destroy the monitor. Later. Olympia wants to sleep next to next to Malorie, but she's a chatterbox and gets into personal questions that make Malorie uncomfortable. Tom joins her after she interrupts Felix and Lucy in the laundry room. The sun shines on the foggy river, 14 hours now, Malorie with blindfold rows the boat and hears a voice. The children also have blindfolds. The shift to the river journey and the past keeps the story going, but we obviously know the fate of the characters. Malorie is under certain about the man and points a gun at the children and then at the voice. He is making his way waist deep in the river. He knocks the gun away and she kicks him, as he tries to pull off her blindfold, then she cuts his arm with a machete. Malorie rows away as the man says they have to see the truth. It’s apparent that Malorie has left the survivors or they died, but she is protective of the children. There is a perspective of what Malorie sees through the blindfold during the struggle, probably why there are risky people Bird boxing.
Tom says that the food is running out. Charlie says The Field market where he worked at is locked up. Tom is leading the group with Charlie, Malorie, Douglas and Lucy. He mentions taking the car, blacking the windows, and using the GPS to drive to the market. Tom inputs the route and opens the garage door. The passengers are disturbed by sounds in the darkened car. The proximity alert goes off as we see bodies lying on the street and they hear the crunch of the tires going over them. The alert goes on ahead of them, Tom thinks it’s a truck, they have to stop and a shadow goes over the car. Charlie starts to panic. The wind rises and the alert goes around the car. Tom guns the accelerator and races to the market, the GPS voice is almost ominous, “You have arrived.” Blindfolded, the survivors move out trying to guide each other by voice. They make their way to the door and Charlie unlocks it so they can walk in. Tom checks the windows and has them remove their blindfolds. He picks up walkie talkies from electronics, Douglas goes for the alcohol, and Tom talks to Malorie about being raised in Stockton by her cowboy father. Tom seems like a nice guy, later telling her he was a soldier in Iraq, and they seem to have a connection. Malorie pushes along her cart and sees the parrots in the cage. Of course, the birds a great warning to other presences. Douglas calls the others to celebrate loudly and wants to stay in the market. Malorie doesn’t want to leave the others behind. They hear a knocking at a freezer door. Charlie recognizes his voice as Fish Fingers, a criminal who worked at the market. There are of course costs to their survival and we know ultimately, it’s Malorie, the children, and the birds. They return to the house without Charlie and then find that Felix and Lucy have taken the car.
24 hours on the river, the boat strikes a sunken truck, the boy falls overboard and the backpack of supplies is gone. Malorie is able to pull the boy out and then hears wind chimes so she takes the boat to shore. She covers up the children and tells them to stay in the boat. Malorie uses fishing line to find her way back and enters an abandoned hospital ties off the reel with the fishing line and the fishing line is pulled until the empty bed falls, the wind howls at the other door, but she makes her way back. She falls, hearing her name whispered, and shoots blindly with her gun. The girl senses that something is wrong, she ties herself with rope, and tries to find Malorie. The air howls again and then the girl is pulled backwards, it’s Malorie, who says that she should forget about her and save herself. Olympia opens the door to a man who says he has his blindfold on. Malorie draws the shotgun on him as Tom checks him. The man, Gary (Tom Hollander), says he is on the run from “psychos” from Northwood, a mental institution that broke into his colleague’s house to force them to see the creatures. Douglas takes the gun from Malorie and forces Gary to leave along with everyone who agrees with him. Cheryl takes care of Douglas. Olympia says she let him in because she is soft, raised by her parents, then husband, and wants Malorie to promise to raise her child. Malorie has given her a Hello Kitty key chain. We see 38 hours, the key chain in the hands of the girl. The boat is heading towards the rapids and Malorie tells them that one of the children has to look to find a safe direction for the boat. The river journey reminds me of another post-apocalyptic journey, The Road (2009) based on another novel, in this case by Cormac McCarthy. They are of course pursued by the nameless creatures, they stir leaves and have voices like those that have already fallen to them, they also seem to remember.
Four Blindfolds out of Five!
#Birdbox, #SusanneBier, #SandraBullock, #TrevanteRhodes
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