Feature Photo By: Stephanie Pickens – The movie Bird Box can easily be accessed through the app Netflix as well as online on their website. This was listed first in many categories such as “Trending Now” and “Recently Added” and of course “Popular on Netflix.”
The release of the new Netflix original movie Bird Box featuring Sandra Bullock hit the streaming service on December 21, 2018, and it became the talk of social media as more and more began watching it. Memes broke out days, if not hours within its release, mocking the concept of wearing a blindfold.
“I thought it was going to be scary; I felt stupid for watching it because they went through all that trouble just to get to that one place,” said sophomore Nick Chounlamany. “The cutscenes…they shouldn’t have had so many flashbacks.”
The two-hour film is based on the Bird Box book written by Josh Malerman and revolves around one main obstacle: being blindfolded. The movie starts five years after a catastrophe has occurred with no context as to where the three characters are headed. Throughout the film, the time switches from present (5 years later..) to past – hence the five-year gap – an interesting way to tell or produce the story or film.
After a supernatural force swings through mass populations everywhere in the world by taking the form of every person’s individual biggest fear, ie: sadness, weakness, etc., it makes them commit suicide moments after seeing the “creature”.
“Just the whole concept of not being able to see is something I haven’t seen in movies before,” said senior Ben Zapien. “I mean it was overhyped but it was a good movie.”
As interesting as the plot sounds and may have been, it became a controversial topic on whether it was actually a good movie or not.
“The movie was decent, however, they missed several good parts where they could’ve done significantly better,” said sophomore Giovanni Palazzolo. “The emotional aspect of it
was good but it felt under-directed for the hype it was getting – it didn’t deserve it.” He gave it an overall 7/10 rating.
Many other review websites and news outlets like the New York Times and CinemaSins claimed the film to be a disappointment to the horror/thriller genre as it didn’t meet the expectations anticipated. They also critiqued what in their opinions were considered ‘potholes’ in the plot. Many also said it was a waste of Sandra Bullock’s star-acting since the production of it was not praised.
Despite the whole movie revolving around this “beast”, you’re never able to actually see it. That dissatisfaction might draw people away from wanting to watch it (again).
“I don’t like how you can’t see the beast,” said junior Leslie Garcia.
More controversy over the movie and on Netflix in general spiraled out after the streaming service shared how many views/watches it got. According to a tweet posted by Netflix, the movie reached 45,000,000 views within its first 7 days of being released. The way Netflix measures it has not been told, so how accurate these claims are haven’t been decided either.
Despite all judgments and critiques, there’s no denying that Bird Box was a hit–being a good or bad one is left up to the viewer.
