Bird Box (film)

Did You Know?

• The film's world premiere at AFI Fest on November 12, 2018, had its red carpet coverage cancelled due to the Woolsey Fire and out of respect for victims of the Thousand Oaks shooting.
• A Spanish-language spin-off, Bird Box: Barcelona, was released on Netflix on July 14, 2023, with Mario Casas, Diego Calva, and Georgina Campbell in main roles.

Plot

In a post-apocalyptic world, Malorie Hayes tells two young children they are going down a river in a rowboat and warns them never to remove their blindfolds. The story cuts between the present and five years earlier, when a pregnant Malorie and her sister Jessica witness mass suicides spreading globally. After a prenatal checkup, a woman smashes her head into a hospital window, and others become suicidal. Jessica sees something inexplicable, crashes the car, and walks into a speeding truck. Malorie is taken in by Tom and brought to a house with six others: Douglas, Greg, Cheryl, Felix, Charlie, and Lucy. Charlie explains that demonic entities, known by names like Aka Manah and Púca, have come as a judgment. The group covers windows and blindfolds themselves when going out. Greg kills himself after testing whether the entities can be seen through surveillance cameras. Half the group goes to a grocery store for supplies, where Malorie gets three live birds that react to the entities' presence. Charlie sacrifices himself to save the group from an attacker. Later, Olympia arrives, and Gary, a stranger, is let in against Douglas's wishes. Gary claims he escaped from unblindfolded survivors who force others to look at the entities. Douglas is knocked out and locked in the garage.

Production

Universal Pictures optioned the film rights in 2013, before the book's release, with Scott Stuber and Chris Morgan producing and Andy Muschietti attached to direct. Eric Heisserer was in negotiations to write the script. In July 2017, Netflix acquired the rights after Stuber became head of its feature-film division, and Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich were cast. Danielle Macdonald, Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Sarah Paulson, Rosa Salazar, Lil Rel Howery, and Amy Gumenick joined in October 2017, with Machine Gun Kelly and David Dastmalchian added in November. Principal photography began in California in October 2017. Wilderness scenes were shot on the Smith River, the house exterior was in Monrovia, filming took place partly in Santa Cruz, and the final scene was shot at Scripps College in Claremont. Live birds were used as much as possible, replaced digitally for agitated sequences. The film originally used footage of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, which killed 47 people; Netflix later replaced it with an outtake from a canceled U.S. TV series. Visual effects were created by Industrial Light & Magic, supervised by Marcus Taormina. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross scored the film. A full version with 23 tracks was released on November 22, 2019, on a special-edition vinyl box set.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Bird Box holds an approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating; the critical consensus states the film never reaches its potential but offers intermittent creepiness through strong acting and a chilly mood. Metacritic gives a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com criticized the thin screenplay and silly climax. Amy Nicholson of The Guardian awarded two out of five stars, calling the film painful to watch. Sarah Aswell of Forbes described it as embracing the horror formula with both good and bad elements. Aisha Harris of The New York Times found it occasionally riveting but overall disappointing.

Bird Box challenge

The Bird Box challenge was an internet trend in late 2018 and early 2019 where participants performed tasks while blindfolded, inspired by the film. Netflix initially partnered with four Twitch streamers in Australia in November 2018 to play video games blindfolded. The challenge spread widely, with individuals filming themselves doing ordinary activities blindfolded, leading to injuries. A December 24 video showed a toddler running into a wall. YouTuber Morgan Adams' '24 Hour Bird Box Challenge' video gained 1.7 million views. On January 2, Netflix tweeted a cautionary plea. On January 7, YouTuber Jake Paul appeared to drive blindfolded in a video, violating YouTube's guidelines despite a disclaimer. That same day, a 17-year-old driver in Utah crashed into another car while participating, with no injuries reported. Police Lieutenant Travis Luman called the act inexcusable.