There must be ways to learn about new movies on a regular basis, but now that streaming services also produce films you’ve really got your hands full. I’ve always had trouble keeping up and one can only afford so many streaming platforms. In any case, I finally turned my eyes toward Bird Box. There’s got to be a name for the phenomenon where a movie conditions a certain response that lingers after it’s over. Fear of the phone ringing, for example, after watching When a Stranger Calls, or of making any noise after watching A Quiet Place. Ironically for a movie, it’s a fear of opening your eyes (while outside, in any case) for Bird Box. In fact, I was reluctant to take the garbage out, although it needed to be done.
Unlike many of the films I’ve recently watched, Bird Box had a healthy budget. Production values were high and the acting was great. In case you’re even slower than me, the story runs like this: there is a creature that roams outside, hunting people. When anyone sees it, they immediately die by suicide. In some ways there’s a similarity to M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening, but this is much more action oriented. A group of survivors figure out that they have to remain inside with windows covered, but this presents problems when they run out of food. Also, a new threat arises—when the criminally insane see the creature they survive and experience a kind of religious mania and they try to make others look.
After being immersed in this world for a couple of hours, you feel like staying inside with the shades drawn. Of course, during the summer that’s a reality much of the time when things get too hot outside. The monster and its origin are never really explained, but clearly the effect it has on people is a psychological one. When you stop to think about it, monsters are all about psychology. Our fears may not all be in our heads, but most of them clearly are. Watching such movies can build resilience. As Tom tells Malorie, “Surviving is not living. Life is more than just what is. It’s what could be. What you could make it.” That’s a fairly common theme when everything goes haywire, as in a movie like this. If we embrace monsters they become less scary, at least sometimes. There’s almost a spirituality to it. In any case, Bird Box keeps your attention throughout, but maybe don’t watch it before the day’s outdoor chores are done.
