By Angelina Demetry
Bird Box is a great movie about learning to appreciate human connection, you guys are just mean.
Bird Box, directed by Susanne Bier, took Netflix by storm after its release in December, 2018. This post-apocalyptic psychological thriller sparked a wide acceptance by audiences, but has also received a large amount of criticism. For the sake of sanity, let’s focus on the narrative itself rather than the Bird Box Challenge that has been circulating on social media.
The first scene opens to Malorie Hayes, Sandra Bullock, in her secluded home, working on a painting. Her sister, Jessica Hayes, played by Sarah Paulson, arrives discussing the events of the on-coming apocalypse.
When asked on her opinion on a new painting, Jessica claims that the people in the painting look lonely. Malorie then responds that the painting subjects are lonely, even though the painting depicts them sitting together.
This exact scene, overlooked by so many who were taken away by the violence and action in the rest of the film, is the second most important scene in the entire movie. We’ll get to the first, later.
The idea that Malorie has portrayed, that these people in her work can not make human connection, is a direct foil of what Malorie is feeling inside. We also learn that she is not excited with the prospect that she is going to have a child.
In the hospital, we find that Malorie says she is not capable of feeling a motherly love towards her baby and that she is considering adoption for the child. It’s after this point that her world is turned to chaos when the monster of the apocalypse is brought to California.
While there are many other good aspects of the movie, from editing to some incredible acting, there is just one more important scene that I would like to touch on.
At one point in the narrative, Malorie is separated from the two children, Girl and Boy, who she is on a journey to a safe house with. In the woods that they were seperated in, Malorie experiences what it truly feels like to be alone and experiences an overcoming fear that she will not see these children again.
It is when she experiences this fear, that she realizes just how important the children are in her life are and how she has formed an unbreakable familial bond. Forget the drama, the thriller, the violence, the action, and all other things you’ve heard or experienced from Bird Box. This is the scene that, in my mind, is the reason you need to watch Bird Box.
