Not just a victim of the hype

Rating: 4/10 (13 January 2019)

I'm not personally a massive fan of Sandra Bullock and her movies to begin with, but I tried to watch this with an open mind; regardless, this is a film with a lot of star power and budget... and not much else. Netflix's exceptional ability to promote mediocre films may bring them some serious revenue, but hasn't translated into many quality end products. The eventual disappointment of wasting 2 hours of your life watching this travesty is beyond insulting.
An interesting (if slightly saturated) premise of fearing an entity you cannot see made the underlying plot intriguing, but is not explored fully enough, nor given any sort of satisfactory conclusion. This hidden menace is a constant threat, but lacks any substance, meaning no true fear can be felt by the viewer. Without spoiling the film, know that plotholes and unfinished storytelling will leave you with more questions than when you started.
Acting, on the whole, is good enough, along with some impressive CGI and grusome-enough death scenes. Bullock herself embodies the role well, but certain decisions and actions will have you shouting at the screen for something to begin to make sense. John Malkovich also provides some decent charisma, about the only person in the film who's character seems to make any sense. Bird Box is a 4 purely due to the redeeming qualities of acting and visuals. Not much else is on offer here, and as with nearly all horror films the end product is beyond disappointing.