Netflix Mini-Review - Bird Box (15)

I'll say who goes. I'll say who looks.

The Gist: Malorie (Sandra Bullock) is a woman seeking refuge for herself and the two children in her charge, as they travel downriver, all three of them blindfolded. Flash back six years, and the pregnant Malorie observes what appears to be a bizarre global pandemic along with her sister Jessica (Sarah Paulson). The truth behind the phenomenon becomes apparent as it hits the US - terrifying entities are abroad, driving anyone who sees them to instant, violent suicide. Along with a disparate band of other survivors Malorie struggles to adapt to this terrifying new world, where a simple action like drawing back the curtains may result in horrific death.

The Juice: Adapted from Josh Malerman's 2014 novel, Bird Box has a similarly post-apocalyptic high concept to 2018's A Quiet Place, while taking a narrative route that's more reminiscent of a zombie survival flick. Everyone is holed up in a claustrophobic location - paranoid regarding newcomers and scared to go outside. The 'enforced-blindness' idea gives the proceedings an original twist, however, setting up some nerve-tearing and visceral action sequences. Also the split time-frame suggests that some very bad things are on the way for our ragged band of characters. Most unsettling (and most highly effective) is how we only experience the creatures, whatever they are, through the characters' traumatised responses. Nothing this insanely frightening could be realised visually, so it's left more or less to our imagination. Bullock is great as Mallorie - tough as leather and more drill-sergeant than mother (the rigours of parental responsibility is a major subtext). There's great support too including from Moonlight's Trevante Rhodes as the empathetic Tom, Danielle Macdonald as hapless mother-to-be Olympia and a scenery-chewing John Malkovich as the obligatory cynic-who-trusts-no-one.

The Judgement: 7.5/10. While it doesn't scale the sublime world-building heights of A Quiet Place, this is still a terrific, scary thriller in its own right, which conjures up a memorable sense of dread and a few potentially iconic moments. The fact that the threat remains unexplained only adds to the fear. It's a bit like M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening - only good.