So… Bird Box…This new Sandra Bullock horror movie left a mark. There will be no spoiler alert because this post is not about the movie per se, but, like everything else on this blog, it’s about how it made me feel. First of all, it’s a good movie, there are very few (my opinion) horror movies out there where you can notice good acting, in fact, no horror movie has left an imprint in my mind, especially with acting, since The Shinning and the master Jack Nicholson. I confess that Paranormal Activity 1 scared the bejesus out of me, it was excellent from that point of view, but we can’t talk about acting when we refer to that movie.
I know! I am a very hard to impress person, it’s true, but here it is, this Sandra Bullock latest managed to do the job. The theme and main idea are definitely not original, when I see in the description of any movie the word “apocalyptic” and/or “end of the world scenario”, I instantly lose interest. I get the whole fascination with the subject, but I must ask myself, what sort of ending can anyone create in a movie that starts with the worst happening?
So, what then, what stuck with me after this not so original movie? It resonated with me probably because its with children, but I actually see it as a very accurate metaphor when thinking about parenting. The whole idea of guiding children through rapids and dangers, while blindfolded, well…that’s exactly what parenting is, generally.
Of course, this is an informed opinion, now that I have had children for a few years. And of course, parenting is a wonderful wondering. After you just had your first, you wonder how perfect they are, their sleep and sounds and breathing and you wonder how meaningless life before kids becomes overnight. Then, you start to wonder how they can cry for hours without end, without getting tired of it. And you wonder how they survive without sleeping one full night in years… But slowly, as they grow and they turn you into a parent, you learn wisdom.
You realize (and accept) that you absolutely have no idea what you are doing most of the time, that you must turn helpless creatures into strong people without any coaching and real guarantee. You guide yourself by instinct, eighty percent of the time, you feel the dangers without seeing them, you instinctively turn to a decision or other, trying not to knock over the boat. You’re terrified yourself, but can’t show it, you lock yourself in the bathroom to cry and you scream into the pillow at times, under the burden of SUCH responsibility, but you must stay strong and creative in the ways you guide them. You know it’s vital for them to see you as a badass almighty hero at all times. And you would kill for the luxury of just once peeking in the future and getting a definite confirmation that you are, in fact, on the right track and you are doing the best thing for them.
The movie IS scary, not in an obvious way, but in the way that it appeals to our imagination. The blood and gore and flying guts are not scary, usually, maybe gross but that’s it. The scary part is our mind, just like the director of “The Silence of the Lambs” said, so many years ago. When you just suggest something horrible, without describing it much, our mind automatically goes into imagination for details, and then…brace yourselves! I have a feeling the creators of Bird Box wanted to leave room for a sequel? Because I am telling you this much, don’t expect closure at the end!
And lastly, I found the movie to be a symbol of Sandra Bullock’s life now, and if you read a bit about her last 10 years, you will understand why. Needless to say, that its very hard to perform great acting while having your eyes covered, all the emotion and the other human manifestations have to come from everything else, but she did not win an Oscar for nothing, she more than did the job. She significantly raised the quality bar for this movie that, without her, would have been yet another scream-bloody apocalyptic match.
Image source: Saeed Adyani, eliteDaily.com, ign.com
