Is Netflix’s Recent Hit ‘BirdBox’ Worth the Hype?

Over 45 million views in a week and enough memes and GIFs to last a lifetime, “BirdBox” has managed to break the internet, two eyes at a time. The Josh Malerman novel, turned Netflix thriller, stars Sandra Bullock as Mallorie. Mallorie is introduced to us as she is sternly warning her two children, named “boy” and “girl”, of the perilous 42-hour journey they are about to pursue…while blindfolded. The “monster” of the film is an invisible being that has to be viewed in order to make its victims become suicidal. The film also stars Moonlight’s, Trevante Rhodes as Tom, Mallorie’s love interest and all around nice guy who you would want by your side during the end of the world.

It was largely believed that Netflix was making fake accounts to send more memes and GIFs into the world to create more publicity for the film. That has proven to be false, This apocalyptic thriller has been deemed as one of the scariest movies of 2018, but with all the hype, is BirdBox worth it?

Me after watching #Birdbox pic.twitter.com/zewifTVrT2

— ✨ ???????? ✨ (@SupaGirlZombie) January 6, 2019

#Birdbox Everyone has that one friend that’s like that when they get a new message: pic.twitter.com/5lN7jMikGm

— Lιsα •-• (@demon_lisa16) January 8, 2019

#birdbox me when i see sephora and I’m broke pic.twitter.com/9BDVM693vm

— mia (@nonoapap) January 8, 2019

The premise of the movie is one of the things I absolutely loved about it. The evil entity drives people to instant suicide by manifesting as their worst fear that only they can see specific to the person. The only way to survive in this new world is to not see them at all.

Many people have compared BirdBox to John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” or M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” but I couldn’t disagree more. Visually, The Quiet Place was shot beautifully. Each frame brought you closer the story of the family and its underlying themes. BirdBox, on the other hand, was shot like a made for television movie. “The Happening” had mediocre acting and the suicides came off more comical than serious in the film.

The true premise of the film not only asks the question “How we can survive during the end of the world?”, but “How can I survive the tribulations of motherhood when I feel I’m not capable of doing so?”

The film jumps around quite a bit between the present and five years in the past when the entity first appears. Bullock and Rhodes are living in a house to avoid the invisible monster with a cast of amazing actors which include John Malkovich, Lil Rel Howery, B.D Wong, and up-and-coming actress Danielle Macdonald and more. Rapper MGK also stars in the film, however, his character and a few others in the house, don’t really add too much to the overall plot.

Howery played someone very similar to the character he played in “Get Out”, the comic relief who just happens to know things. I enjoyed his scenes but I felt like he took away from the seriousness and suspense of the film. If I am being honest, the grocery store scene specifically was very light-hearted and took me out of the movie for a moment. Rhodes was extremely too trusting. I know with sci-fi/disaster films such as this, you have to suspend your disbelief here and there but the during the entire film I just kept yelling at my TV demanding that he stopped opening doors for strangers.

While reading up on the differences between the film and the novel I discovered a much darker twist that I wish the film tackled. No spoilers of course. It is something that you would have to experience for yourself. Both the screenwriter, Eric Heisner, and author, Josh Malerman, have stated that the main theme is about motherhood. But that hasn’t stopped the masses from coming up with their own interpretations for the film.

While some have said the entity can be seen as how people with mental illness are treated in America, someone else can interpret the movie as more of a religious experience. For me, BirdBox is great for streaming, however, I honestly don’t believe it would be as popular if it was released in theaters. The acting is impeccable and the story itself is entertaining but the popularity of this film came primarily from the curiosity of viewers on social media. The film was an above average Netflix sci-fi that drew people in from seeing a post like the “BirdBox challenge”, the dangerous challenge in which people blindfold themselves and act like they’re running from the entity. BirdBox is the perfect movie for “Netflix and chill” but don’t believe the hype.