‘Bird Box’, directed by Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier and starring Sandra Bullock as Malorie, is about a mother in a post-apocalyptic world where a mysterious force compels people to kill themselves unless they are blindfolded. Malorie and the two children, known only as “boy” and “girl” attempt a canoe trip to find a safer location, but things obviously don’t go according to plan. ‘Bird Box’ is among a handful of Netflix original films that is getting a theatrical release prior to becoming available to stream in an effort to hopefully gain recognition from awards-voting bodies. But upon seeing the trailer, many instantly drew comparisons between Bier’s film and another awards-hopeful thriller, ‘A Quiet Place’.
Bier doesn’t believe the films are similar at all and blames comparisons on the fact that both movies feature female leads– Bullock and ‘A Quiet Place”s Emily Blunt. (Although, ‘A Quiet Place’ is more of an ensemble.) When asked about the rampant comparisons between the two pictures, Bier said:
“I think A Quiet Place is a very good film, but I think they are very different. They’ll inevitably get compared, but I have to admit, I don’t see a lot of similarity. It’s almost a slight — because they are two thrillers with two female leads, they’re compared. I guess I kind of go, “Hey, would you say the same thing if it were two guys?” And I don’t think anybody would…
Look, the book [Bird Box] came out way before A Quiet Place. And I really don’t think it’s a trend. I mean, there are probably lots of movies that deal with sensory experience of something horrific. But I enjoy them both!”
‘Bird Box’ just premiered at the AFI Film Festival and will be released worldwide on Netflix on December 21. The cast also includes David Dastmalchian, Tom Hollander, Lil Rel Howery, Machine Gun Kelly, John Malkovich, Parminder Nagra, Sarah Paulson, Trevante Rhodes, Rosa Salazar, Jacki Weaver, and BD Wong.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
