![]() ![]() Meanwhile, the (fractionally) expanded mythology only serves to demystify the threat, all the while asking questions better left unanswered (are they aliens? Angels? Or something in between?). Scenes of vision-inflicted suicide remain squirmingly unpleasant but, accustomed as we’ve become, none hit with the same force as Sarah Paulson’s shocking departure in the first film. While it possesses all the component parts of its predecessor, the spin-off packs little of its punch. Written and directed by David and Àlex Pastor (also responsible for the similarly Barcelona-set ‘don’t go outside’ apocalypse yarn The Last Days), Bird Box Barcelona uses its distinctive setting as ably as it can for a film that, by definition, has to take place largely behind closed doors and shuttered windows. Then, flashing back to the creatures’ first arrival, we witness the traumatic events that brought them there in the first place. Also resurrecting the dual timeline format, the film follows Sebastien and Anna as they meet up with a wary group of survivors living in an abandoned bomb shelter and attempt to traverse the city, seeking shelter behind the gift shops and 17th century fortifications of Montjuic Castle. Thus we find ourselves repeating many of the first film’s beats, only substituting LA and wider California for the Catalan capital. It’s just a shitty, disappointing Netflix sequel.The fractionally expanded mythology only serves to demystify the threat. It’s sort of framed as nefarious because it involves torturing Seers, but it also raises the Last of Us question: Is it acceptable to sacrifice one for the future of humanity? Unfortunately, Bird Box: Barcelona is not Last of Us. In a nutshell: Sebastian manages to resist his visions just enough to sacrifice himself and kill Padre Esteban so that Claire and Sofia can reach the castle safely.īut there’s a twist! Claire discovers that, although the castle is safe from the monsters, they’re conducting experiments on Seers in order to find a cure, and these experiments involve one of the creatures that the castle has trapped. They’re trying to find safety in a castle community, only to get there they have to navigate around Sebastian, who is also being manipulated by another Seer, Padre Esteban (Leonardo Sbaraglia). Meanwhile, Claire (Georgina Campbell) and Sofia (Naila Schuberth) are essentially this movie’s equivalent of the mother and child in the original Bird Box. Bird Box came out in 2018 on Netflix and stars Sandra. These theories put a face to the monster. Sebastian even forces open one woman’s eyes because he thinks he’s saving her. Bird Box featured an unstoppable, invisible monster that made its victims go mad and commit suicide. A lot of injured people on the bus open their eyes and die. For instance, he befriends a group of people who live on a bus, and while they are sleeping, he drives the bus out into the open and crashes it. Sebastian thus believes he is an angel, tasked with forcing others to open their eyes to the creature. Having lost his wife and daughter, he experiences visions of his daughter Anna (Alejandra Howard), who convinces Sebastian that viewing the monster is a good thing for others because it frees their souls. Case in point: Sebastian (Mario Casas) is a seer. A seer who witnesses the monster does not end their life, but he does lose his mind. ![]() The same premise applies in Barcelona - and many, many people throw themselves off buildings or smash their heads through windshields - but there are now exceptions: Seers. Blind people had a distinct advantage as they could not see. The only way a person could prevent their own demise was to never open their eyes while outside. In the original Bird Box, if a person opened their eyes and saw the creature/beast/apparition, the person would immediately take their own life, often in creatively unsettling ways. To its detriment, however, it expands the mythology in questionable ways. To its credit, albeit begrudgingly, it is not just Bird Box set in a different country. Three languages are spoken (English, Spanish, and German), it’s set in Barcelona, and - worst of all - it seems to herald the beginnings of a Bird Box universe. Bird Box: Barcelona feels more like the mockbuster we thought Bird Box might be: a cheaply made sequel designed to broaden the appeal of the original movie internationally. So, of course, Netflix had to take it further. However, it was surprisingly spooky and entertaining, skating on its high-concept premise and the talents of Sandra Bullock. Released about six months after A Quiet Place, it felt like something akin to a mockbuster, a straight-to-streaming rip-off of the John Krasinski film. ![]() It is also one of the few Netflix original movies that’s actually decent (not spectacular, but decent). ![]() The original Bird Box was the most-watched Netflix original movie of all time at one point, although it has since fallen to number three. ![]()
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