Review: Bird Box

Certain to draw comparisons to A Quiet Place, Bird Box, much like that film, is a terrific exercise in terror that draws its effectiveness from relying on the viewers' imagination to amplify the horror.

Sandra Bullock plays Malorie Shannon, first seen sternly telling two young children, simply named Boy and Girl, that they are about to undertake a rough journey. They must stay alert and keep quiet, she tells them, and under no circumstances are they allowed to take off their blindfolds. The film flashes back to five years earlier when the reason for her extreme precautions first appeared. News reports tell of unexplained mass suicides spreading throughout Europe and Russia, with the death toll numbering in the tens of thousands and growing by the second. A reluctantly pregnant Malorie and her sister Jessica (Sarah Paulson) are at the obstetrician when the mysterious happening hits and the hysteria ensues.

In a terrific sequence, Malorie and Jessica make their way out of the hospital after witnessing a woman repeatedly ram her head against a glass window and out into the streets filled with panicked people. Whatever is happening is happening swiftly and without reason. People are throwing themselves out of windows or into oncoming traffic or stepping calmly into burning cars. Jessica herself succumbs to the mysterious and malevolent force, and Malorie finds herself taking shelter in a house owned by the cantankerous and distrustful Douglas (John Malkovich). Others in the house who have also survived the chaos are level-headed and solicitous Iraq War veteran Tom (the endlessly charismatic Trevante Rhodes of Moonlight), also-pregnant Olympia (Danielle Macdonald), and supermarket worker and aspiring sci-fi writer Charlie (Lil Rel Howery), who believes that whatever is out there is a demon or spirit creature that takes the form of your worst fear, deepest sadness or greatest loss.

Given that only Malorie is seen with the two kids as they make their way down the river to a supposedly safe compound, it's natural to assume that the rest of the characters won't make it - this is a genre film, after all - but it doesn't prevent director Susanne Bier from executing some genuine scares. A drive through streets strewn with dead bodies in a car with blacked-out windows and with only the GPS and its proximity sensors to rely upon is nail-bitingly tense. So, too, is the late arrival of another survivor, whose appearance heralds a horror that is about to unfold. Bier's no-frills and efficient style and the insidious musical score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross undergird the fright factor.

Bird Box, whose title refers to birds being able to sense if someone is afflicted or if the evil force is nearby, works best when it remains within the confines of the house. Though the present-day scenes have some effective moments, they seem more rife with the effort giving Malorie a trajectory in which she finally accepts motherhood, which is not a terrible arc per se but there's a clumsiness in its handling that exposes the thinness of the screenplay. Nevertheless, Bird Box does more than enough to offset its flaws and is highly worth the watch.

Bird Box

Directed by: Susanne Bier

Written by: Eric Heisserer, Josh Malerman

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, Tom Hollander, BD Wong, Danielle Macdonald, Lil Rel Howery, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Parminder Nagra, Rebecca Pidgeon