After the monsters in A Quiet Place used sound as their way of tracking inferior humans, an unseen force uses sight to drive human beings to suicide or into murderous cultists. If we’re lucky, next year our protagonists won’t be able to use their sense of smell.

from imdb.com

While the premise of Bird Box might hearken back to A Quiet Place, I was reminded of Stephen King’s, Cell (others might think of The Happening which is a film I forgot I watched). The premise of Cell being that everyone who used a cell phone turned into a murderous suicidal maniac. Cell was made into a film in 2016 with John Cusack and Samuel Jackson, but wasn’t widely released and scored lowly on both audience and critical ratings. Good read though.

A Quiet Place was effective due to its reliance on its premise. A Quiet Place put its characters into straining survival situations that escalated the tension from start to finish. The pacing was phenomenal. There are worthy acting performances across the board and the absence of sound builds the tension. A Quiet Place is an enjoyable piece of suspense thriller with some light monster horror.

Bird Box is more gimmicky in the use of its premise. The unseen force has an aversion to going into houses and attempts to manipulate people into opening their eyes outside. The cause of this force is unknown and only Lil Rey Howery’s character gives an internet conspiracy attempt at explaining it. To be fair, his half-cocked explanation is the best reasoning the film offers.

The pacing is traditional as you go from scene to scene where the expected movie tropes occur.

Without the evil force having an understandable explanation for its existence, the focus falls solely on the protagonists' efforts to survive. The lead is Sandra Bullock as Malorie. The story transitions back and forth from present day and five years ago when Malorie was pregnant and the mass suicide began. Malorie escapes harm and joins a house of several survivors including her eventual love interest Tom (Trevante Rhodes). In the present day, Malorie is on a river with two children trying to reach a compound where it may be safe.

The unseen force and the necessity of staying blind outside become plot devices as the focus of the story is on Malorie’s growth as a mother. Through Tom’s perspective, and the perspective of Douglas (John Malkovich), we see the juxtaposed views of an optimist and a cynic. Douglas and Tom play the only supporting roles that carry weight, as performances by Howery, BD Wong, and Machine Gun Kelly, are limited to moderate cliches and stereotypes.

A more compactly written and smaller cast may have developed for a more effective concept. There are times when the film feels like it has to drag along, and the suspense is lost. For some, Bird Box may never feel that suspenseful. The tense moments never seem to put too much strain on the characters as they end as quickly as they start.

Despite its numerous flaws, I can’t say that I dislike Bird Box. Is it simply the staying power of Bullock’s performance that carries me from start to finish? Maybe. There’s a never say die survivalist mentality that Bullock wears that is reminiscent of her character from Gravity. In a way, it’s like a Schwarzenegger or Cruise effect where even if the source material isn’t great, the lead performance makes the film watchable.

Bird Box is just compelling enough to make me wonder where it was going, but by not offering any significant elements outside of Sandra Bullock’s survival guide plus her transition into motherhood, it’s not a recommendable film otherwise.