Bird Box; A film telling you not to look, but makes you can't look away.

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2019)

This Sci-Fi apocalyptic thriller portrays a unknown, mysterious force that makes people commit suicide, the story follows a mother who leads her children on a treacherous journey. A now Netflix favorite, is viewed as an "unexpected December gift".
Bird Box is not the jump-scare thrill seeker film that many expect when they hear "sci-fi apocalyptic thriller." It's quiet at times and quick in others. Much like the unseen creatures, or "force" it brings our deepest human fears to life, disguised as someone we've lost, asking you to join them and when you to remove your blindfold and watch what happens, it really is beautiful.
People seem to be drawn to and obsessed with watching and thinking about how humanity and the world will one day reach its end. Bird Box gives a fascinating take on the end of the world and interesting emotional insights on survival, parenthood, and humanity itself.
Award winning actress Sandra Bullock leads an all-star cast that includes Trevante Rhodes (Tom), with Sarah Paulson (Jessica), and John Malkovich (Douglas).
Sandra Bullock delivers another brilliant performance as the strict, assertive, unemotional Malorie. Throughout the film, she challenges what "maternal" means in survival circumstances like this one. Does motherhood mean too much affection, playing pretend, and filling a child with hopes and dreams, or does it mean you raise a survivor, training and teaching them what they need to stay alive, while holding them at arm's length for fear of losing them? How a mother protects her children is a question that haunts every parent.
Malorie is first pictured having an intense conversation with her children, saying they will be going on the trip down the river, that they must report anything they hear, and under no circumstance will they be allowed to take off their blindfold, because taking off their blindfolds means they would die within seconds.
It then flashes back to five years earlier when pregnant Malorie is with her sister living their regular lives, when all hell breaks loose. First in small cities in Russia and around the world, then right in front of them, there's people jumping in front of cars, leaping off buildings, harming themselves in anyway possible.
Another thing that made the film stand out was how the films events were organized. The Film jumps around time periods from the past when Malorie is pregnant (five years earlier) to the present of her on the dangerous journey down the river. Using the events that took place out of order and instead showing flashbacks that eventually lead up to the final scenes adds an interesting flow to the film that keeps the audience on their toes wondering what will happen next.
Another thing that made the film stand out was filming Malorie's point of view from under the blindfold. It adds an interesting camera shot and was a nice touch, it presents the audience with how vulnerable and extremely difficult it was to maneuver their way through all the obstacles and challenges they faced and put the watchers in her shoes and made their experience and the film more tangible and realistic.
The films post-apocalyptic setting, need to survive, and constant action has a close relation to the film 'A Quiet Place' and to the popular series 'The Walking Dead'.
The question that seemed to be asked a lot is if Bird Box is just another version of 'A Quiet Place'? Another post-apocalyptic film? Or does it bring more to the table? Personally I think the film is exceptional and although the ending is a little cheesy and cliche, it was the perfect way to end such an action packed movie.