by Paul Mount
This belated sequel to 2018’s Sandra Bullock-starring Bird Box – the first proper sit-up-and-take-notice feature film smash hit of the streaming age – is surprisingly accomplished, even if it’s unlikely to repeat the success of its predecessor. Written and directed by Alex and David Pastor, Bird Box Barcelona is a powerful, knotty movie that asks bold and blunt questions about religious zealotry but sweetens the pill with several well-realised set pieces and some stunning visuals depicting a battered, silent Barcelona occupied only by ragged groups of survivors and the unseen ‘creatures’ that prowl the streets.
Bird Box offered a world overrun by strange creatures who entice those who see them to commit suicide (often in the most grisly manner). Those immune from their baleful gaze become ‘seers’, dedicated to forcing those who blindfold their eyes or look away to accept the ‘blessing’ that the creatures deliver. The driving character dynamic of Bird Box is neatly reversed as Sebastian (Mario Casas) has already been visited by personal tragedy, and he too has become a seer, infiltrating survivor groups and forcing them to accept their fate, surrender their humanity to go to ‘a beautiful place’ – at the moment of death, we see a light that represents the soul flying free from their mortal remains.
Clearly intended to bolster Netflix’s Spanish audience (Barbarian’s Georgina Campbell plays the main English-speaking character), Bird Box Barcelona is a tough and bleak movie, but it offers spectacle and action for those looking for pure entertainment and something a little more thought-provoking and challenging for an audience that likes its genre fare more multi-layered. It’s been a long time coming, but Bird Box Barcelona is a worthwhile sequel; let’s hope we don’t have to wait another five years for the third entry that’s clearly being set up here.
Bird Box Barcelona is streaming now on Netflix.
