Occasionally, I like to review books, movies, or TV shows, but only if I love them. Once I began to write and publish, I had to go through the sometimes painful process of reading independent reviews of my work. I've been fortunate that most of my reviews have been favorable. But, a few have been critical and even fewer seemed to have a personal vendetta. A good review, regardless whether the review is positive or negative, should never be personal. It loses its validity and can quickly turn into something other than an honest review. Reviews are only opinions, and do not speak for the masses. This is simply my opinion for those who care to know.
Bird Box was taken from the novel by Josh Malerman. You may already have guessed that I enjoyed this Netfix original movie. I almost invested in Netflix when they first started, several years ago. If I had, I'd be writing this blog from Tahiti, instead of my office in Arizona. Oh, well. That's another blog of a different feather.
The movie centers around an expectant, yet unenthusiastic mother to be (Sandra Bullock), in her final stages of pregnancy when the world comes to a terrifying halt as something terrible and unexplained begins to happen around the world to anyone and everyone, ending in death.
A small group of lucky/unlucky survivors end up hold up in a neighborhood home. The story goes from there on an exciting and scary roller-coaster ride until the very end of the movie. I guarantee you will be on the edge of your seat the entire time.
Bird Box, which aired December 2018, is a not-so-typical post-apocalyptic tale about the end of the world as we know it.What I loved about the story was the intense scenes and situations that the characters find themselves in.With a top-notch, all-star cast of actors such as; Sandra Bullock and Trevante Rhodes, just to name a few, Bird Box is sure to attract fans of many different genres.
Like I've said in other blog posts, I don't enjoy true horror films, but I do like to be frightened enough to get my blood pumping. BB offered interesting characters, tragedy, self discovery, a little sympathy, romance, and of course monsters.
On the surface, if someone told you the details for how the world comes to a crashing halt, you might say, there's no way. How can anyone work through such terrible situations. And then it gets even worse. When you think there is a temporary peace, a moment of reprieve for the MC and her crew, you're wrong. I'm always amazed at the way the human spirit is represented in stories like this one. It's the human elements of the story that drive it, not the impossible to defeat monsters.
Stories that slay me are the ones that put the viewer or reader in the impossible position of protecting children from things that scare the crap out of adults. Bird Box, and I suspect the award winning novel, does this effortlessly. Like The Haunting of Hill House, (another Netflix Original ) Bird Box is a supernatural drama.
*Warning- the book is listed as Horror but I disagree with the genre. We can argue that another time. There are a few graphic images (not too bad) and some violence, mild to harsh language but not to the point that you walk over and shut the TV off. (I've seen a few of those where the language took away from the movie rather than enhance the reality of the situation. Not everyone curses like a sailor every time their scared, mad, happy or sad. Just trying to be REAL.). ;)
Since I don't wish to ruin the entertainment factor by going into to much more detail, I'll end on this note; What would you do to save your family, in a seemingly hopeless world?
Let me know what you think of Bird Box, if you watch it. I love the back and forth with readers.
R.K. Close
