Ideas that nobody wants to film or topics that nobody wants to address - that is what Netflix is known for. For the fact that Netflix is working with a budget below the Hollywood level, the own productions can really show themselves - sometimes the realizations are an average and sometimes really successful. So, in my opinion, is Bird Box the second one. I hadn't heard anything about it before the release of the movie. Again typical for Netflix. They don't make almost any wind around new movies - and the bigger the surprise is if it's a good one. A very successful approach and company policy, which again makes Netflix so popular! But enough of Netflix and let's dedicate ourselves to the movie.
The Story:
Malorie, played by Sandra Bullock, is pregnant. She has separated from the father of the child and the anticipation of the offspring is limited. Her sister Jessica tries to cheer her up and visits her in her studio. When they meet for a routine examination in the hospital, suddenly panic breaks out. The citizens start killing each other for no reason. An invisible force has attacked them, with the ability to show them something that drives them to their own death.
The sisters flee and try to get out of the city as quickly as possible. But Jessica falls victim to the "creatures". Malorie is saved by a woman who also blesses the afterlife shortly afterwards. Together with a few survivors she finds refuge in Douglas' house. Weeks go by, the food runs out and unexpected incidents decimate the group more and more. Years later, when Malorie hears through the radio of a shelter, she embarks on an extremely dangerous journey with her now-born son and a friend's daughter blindfolded.
My opinion:
With Bird Box, we have a monster movie that doesn't need any monsters. Of course the monsters are included in the movie but somehow not. But that doesn't make this survival thriller bad. The mixture of an apocalyptic scenario, at the beginning The Walkinng Dead group dynamics and a concept you already know from movies like Don't Breathe or A Quiet Place, which has been changed a bit, is always exciting and works great. The cast, especially Sandra Bullock, is strong and the diversified structure of the plot makes the thing round, even though not all side stories are convincing and completely solved.
All in all, the twists aren't very surprising, the concept isn't completely new either, and somehow the monster is missing, but somehow it is exciting that the monsters aren't there, and this fact makes the movie even more exciting. It's refreshing to see a monster movie that doesn't even show one, but it still has a stale aftertaste.
Before I wrote this review, I googled a little about the movie and found out that the Bird Box is a book adaptation. It didn't surprise me. Netflix often films books to movvies or series, so it can happen that we can maybe see a sequel to Bird Box in a year or two.