Cloverfield with blindfolds

Rating: 5/10 (30 December 2018)

If you like an ever-present threat and a story exploring the condition of fear, you'll enjoy this. If you like a story where there is a plausible meaning and a conclusion, nah, move on. In the mode of Cloverfield, where the enemy is unexplained (until the made for Netflix sequel), there is one paragraph of explanation in the form of 'ancient civilisations believe that blah blah' getting nowhere near a satisfactory answer to what the malevolent entities causing mass-suicide are or what their purpose is, which left will leave you feeling unfulfilled.
Although some annoying plot holes, the acting is OK, but nothing more than one should expect from Bullock (looking at times like Michael Jackson in the Bad era) and Malkovich (channeling Victor Meldrew minus the puppies).
The concept of not being able to see your foe is never really played as frighteningly as it could have been either, as for most of the film the entities cannot harm you if you can't see them (reverse Doctor Who episode anyone?) and psychotic humans, immune to the desire to top themselves, scream their presence blocks away! If I had directed this I would have gone for minimal lighting and constant close ups to exacerbate the feeling of claustrophobia and 'what's lurking around the corner'.
Finally, after five years avoiding disease and malnutrition, Malarie finds a sanctuary and discovers that despite realising within the first few minutes of the movie that birds can detect the entities, if only she'd thought about it two minutes longer she would have realised that she could take off the blindfold when they were relaxed too. Doh! She could have saved a hell of a battering down stream if only she'd have got there first.
The thing I struggled most with in this movie was the treatment of the two children who after five years of mental abuse from not only the entities, but Malerie, would have been deeply traumatised in reality. I get that she had a father with hair and a mother who liked horses, but where did this hatred of children come from? I've not been this displeased at an attitude to children since the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (who, when I think about it, Bullock resembles at times in this too!)
On reflection I think this would have made a better multi-part series where the story could have been fleshed out as well as the characters, but I still love that Netflix is creating such high budget material.