BIRD BOX (2018)

Updated: Apr 25, 2019

RATING: 7/10✅

Drama/Horror/Sci-Fi

In a post-apocalyptic world, Malorie Hayes advises two young, unnamed children that they will be going downstream on a river in a boat. She strictly instructs them to not remove their blindfolds, or else they will die.

Details

Directed by Susanne Bier
Produced by Dylan Clark, Chris Morgan, Clayton Townsend
Screenplay by Eric Heisserer
Based on Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Starring Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald, Sarah Paulson
Music by Trent Reznor Atticus Ross
Cinematography Salvatore Totino
Edited by Ben Lester
Production Company Bluegrass Films, Chris Morgan Productions
Distributed by Netflix
Release Date November 12, 2018, December 14, 2018 (United States)
Running Time 124 minutes
Language English
Budget $19.8 million

Filming

Principal photoraphy began in California in October 2017. Wilderness scenes were shot on the Smith River in the far northern part of the state. The house exterior is from a place in Monrovia. Cinematography partially took place in Santa Cruz, and the final scene was shot at Scripps College.

The production used real-life birds during filming as much as possible, replacing them with digital birds for sequences when the birds became "agitated."

The film uses footage of the Lac-Mengatic rail disaster, which caused the death of 47 people in the town of Lac-Mengatic, Canada on July 6, 2013. The stock-footage was purchased from a vendor and Netflix has said it will stay in the movie even after a request to remove it from survivors of the disaster.The same footage was also used in another Netflix production, Travelers, but has since been removed.

Bird Box blindfold challenge

In Australia, Netflix originally partnered with four Twitch streamers in performing what they called a Bird Box challenge, in which they would play some popular video games while blindfolded. However, the challenge became widely mimicked on the Internet by individuals wearing blindfolds while trying to do ordinary activities, causing injuries to some. In response, Netflix released several messages over social media advising people not to undertake the challenge or hurt themselves. Nevertheless, in January 2019, a 17-year-old in a blindfold taking part in the craze drove into oncoming traffic in Utah and crashed her car, prompting the police in the state to issue the same warning as Netflix.