This is the sort of blog I don’t usually do. I don’t like limiting a blog’s audience, but I need to in this case. I say to you now, please do not read this blog unless you have seen the movie Bird Box in its entirety, as this is a spoilerific review. Consider this first paragraph a recommendation to see the movie, after which you can read the rest. 😊 Bird Box affected me in a profound way, which is why I write this, but I can’t explain that without spoiling it. So warnings given, everyone ready, here goes.

Bird Box is a movie that starts with a simple, though scary premise. An indescribable something causes a large portion of Earth’s population to commit suicide. It seems to happen when the victims see something, though we’re not sure what as no victim ever survives long enough to explain. There are hints that the victims may be seeing, or somehow reliving their worst losses or greatest fears, but this is never confirmed. I liked this approach, as I agree with the Stephen King philosophy that sometimes not knowing makes it better. I was hooked from the jump when Mallory, the main character, loses her sister in this way, ensuring she can no longer ignore the problem. She makes it into a house, and here we meet most of the rest of the principle cast, save one, Olympia, who shows up later. Tension is already high as Mallory is pregnant, as is Olympia when she arrives.

All this is intercut with the present, where we see Mallory with 2 children heading somewhere on a boat. There’s a clip in the very beginning speaking of a compound where it is safe, and how the only way there is down the river. The speaker says they don’t think they’ll make it with kids, but Mallory is trying anyway. What made things so desperate? Is one of these children hers? If so, is the other one Olympia’s? Where is she then? These questions are laid out in perfect fashion. The pacing of the movie feels smooth, and you get more and more information at a very acceptable rate.

As the movie progresses, you start to learn more. When Mallory is attacked while on the boat, and in a flashback the whole crew is attacked in the supermarket, we learn that not everyone is affected the same way. The attackers don’t wear blindfolds, and seem to want the others to look, to see what they see and allow it to affect them however it will. Later still, when the oh-so-loveable Gary shows up, we learn that these are the psychos. Those who were already psychotic see whatever this thing is as beautiful, and it changes them into warriors who work in favor of this entity. Gary is, of course, one of these, and it’s his intervention that results in poor Olympia’s death, leaving Mallory to take care of both children, one of which was indeed hers, the other is indeed Olympia’s.

I’m skipping over some things here, but it’s nearly time I get to the point. By this time, Mallory is alone save for the kids and Tom, an army vet who has given her some much-needed love in this dark time. Sadly, we already know she leaves alone, and though it takes 5 years, Tom eventually meets his end dealing with a band of 5 no-blindfold people.

The radio message speaking of the compound comes before this, though, and initially Mallory did not want to go at all. Tom’s death serves as the last straw for her, and she determinedly sets out on the boat, taking us smoothly back to the present.

So far, I’ve just described a wonderful movie, but now we get into why it so profoundly affected me. Off they go, the entity tormenting them all the while, whispering, and finally even yelling at Mallory to “look! Just look!” They use the voices of the dead, including Tom’s making it all the more difficult to resist. Nevertheless they do, and finally, finally, they reach the aforementioned compound which is… Here it comes… A school for the blind.

I literally punched the air in emotional, uncontrolled joy when I got to this part, and I’ll explain why. Here is a movie that portrays blind people in a proper, acceptable manner, and it does so in the space of about 5 minutes. These are the ending scenes, so not much time is given to them, but they don’t need much. It wasn’t just that the blind were the saviors, I actually don’t mean that. In the media these days, movies, games, TV shows, disability is treated as a problem, and the disabled are treated as helpless and scared, sometimes even as comedy props. Not so here. Here, the blind did the exact same thing every other survivor did. They worked to find shelter and safety, then reached out to help others where they could. Yes, the blind would technically be immune to this creature, which is helpful, but they went above and beyond to also protect the sighted, using a huge amount of birds as warning beacons so the sighted would know when the entities were approaching.

Again, the point I’m making is not about the blind being the saviors necessarily. The point I’m making is that Bird Box portrayed us as thinking, feeling human beings, which in today’s media is an incredible feat. I was moved, and I was proud that we were being shown in a positive light. It was an experience for me akin to reading Robert J. Sawyer’s WWW trilogy, which is also excellent, by the way.

Speaking of books, there is a Bird Box book, upon which this movie was based. I’m being clear that this is a review of the movie, though, as I haven’t read it yet. That’s definitely in the cards soon, however. All I can say for now is that the movie is incredible. It’s scary, it’s beautiful, it’s wonderful and it’s awful, and it portrays us in a wonderful way. It inspired me so much that I simply had to write about it, something that no other movie has ever done before. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little piece, and I hope that some of you stopped reading at the beginning to go watch Bird Box. As always, I’m open to comment and discussion, but if you contact me on Twitter, please stick to DM’s or keep it spoiler free, as I would want others to experience the same flow of emotion I did. Thanks as always for reading, and continue to be awesome!