2018’s Bird Box was a blockbuster hit when it broke viewership records on Netflix. With its meme-heavy marketing, and a superstar in Sandra Bullock, Bird Box burst onto the streaming site and skyrocketed to success seemingly overnight, only to be soon forgotten about. The film felt like more of a passing fad than it was worthy of a franchise, and with Bird Box: Barcelona being dumped on the streaming service with little to no marketing whatsoever, it seems this once one-hit original looks to overstay its welcome.
Not the first horror film that has its characters rely on their senses to navigate through its storytelling. Sight, sound and touch have been used in interesting ways in horror over the last decade or so, with Bird Box being one that fixates on the concept of sight, or lack there of. Set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by an unspecified entity which causes those who see it to take their own lives. It’s certainly a bizarre plot device that’s made even more so by the fact we never see it ourselves. This being perhaps something this Spanish-set sequel would allow us to fully understand.
Bird Box: Barcelona follows much the same formula and has its narrative bouncing between multiple timelines. One being of the day the world started going mad, and another during its present day setting (occurring nine months later) as it follows Sebastián (Mario Casas) and his daughter through the desolate streets of a city once brimming with life. There’s an early twist in its story, which provides this sequel with a new angle and dives more into the why in which these mysterious murders are happening.
This twist should have led to something stronger and its payoff could have been more rewarding had it followed it, but sadly Bird Box: Barcelona quickly retreats to the more similar scenarios and story beats of post-apocalyptic past, leading us to an ending that just feels safe, even if unearned.
We see Sebastián engage with a few different groups on his travels until he stubbles upon one that believe they have the location of a safe haven. In this group we meet a young German girl, Sofia (Naila Schuberth) and the poorly underwritten Claire (Georgina Campbell) and Octavio (Diego Calva). Both of which finding recent success in Barbarian (Campbell) and Babylon (Calva). The group aren’t all on board with welcoming Sebastián, but for convenience sake he’s the only one who can speak German, and therefor being the only member of the group who is able to really engage with Sofia. This bond though is one of little character moments we get aside from some backstory, and so beyond some emotional vulnerabilities the characterisation is dull and uncharismatic.
Directors David and Àlex Pastor dive more into the human psyche and the villains that walk among the rest. It isn’t just the unspecified monsters that you should be afraid of, but also a group of seers walking the streets led by priest Esteban (Leonardo Sbaraglia), who believe they’re doing the God’s work in revelling the entities to unwilling eyes.
Bird Box: Barcelona lacks a star who has the pulling power of Sandra Bullock, but also views its narrative through the eyes of a problematic protagonist in Sebastián. This spin-off/sequel also often disregards sense especially within its own rules in regard to what it wants its audience to accept and understand. There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding why these monsters are here and for what purpose, leaving this sequel with more questions unanswered and even little set-up for future instalments.
Critical Clay 