Bird Box had the misfortune of being released less than a year after the far superior A Quite Place, a similarly styled thriller with an antagonist that attacks through one of the five senses. Where A Quite Place plays with sound, Bird Box plays with sight.

The film follows Malorie, played by Sandra Bullock, as she tries to stay alive following a catastrophic global event in which an unseen presence causes people to commit suicide if they look at it. We follow Malorie's story in two distinct timelines. The first timeline takes place in the immediate aftermath of the event in which Malorie and a diverse group of individuals try to survive together under the same roof. The second timeline takes place five years later, as Bullock and two kids whom she is caring for attempt to find refuge, all whilst blindfolded. As the film progresses, this second timeline takes over and becomes the primary timeline.

The biggest problem with Bird Box is that one timeline is much more interesting than the other. The first timeline is an enjoyable claustrophobic thriller in which this diverse group of people must learn to live and survive together under the same roof. When this section of the film ends, Bird Box becomes much less compelling or exciting.

Overall, Bird Box is an enjoyable but ultimately forgettable thriller. In the opening fifteen minutes, I was struck by the smugness of the dialogue, which was distractingly irritating, making almost all of the characters unlikeable. Nevertheless, once the setup is complete, the movie does become more bearable.