Could you imagine waking up one morning and starting your day like any other until all of a sudden you see people screaming, running for their lives and total chaos beginning to cover the streets? Suicides are happening everywhere you look out of literally nowhere to absolutely any person and no one is safe. Even your best friend isn’t safe. “Bird Box” is a thrilling apocalyptic movie that vividly depicts the end of the world that no one could have ever foreseen.
But what “Bird Box” forgot to foresee is the million unanswered questions they have suddenly left us all with. Luckily this article is for all of you curious, insightful Netflix viewers (45 million of you to be exact) who are probably desperately searching for answers and reasoning behind everything you just watched. Not only are there 45 million of you, but his movie also quickly became Netflix’s new record for most views in one week, despite those who doubted this film and the lack of any money being put towards marketing for it. So to answer your first question: should you or should you not watch this movie? Yes, you absolutely should because frankly, it is like nothing you’ve ever seen before with more depth than you can possibly imagine.
Beware: Spoilers and Twitter Memes Ahead!
What is the Monster?
The No. 1 question that every person who watched “Bird Box” (including myself) wants to know is what on Earth even is this “monster” that’s somehow capable of creating mass suicides all from a person simply looking around outside? Could this possibly be something that could actually happen? The only factual knowledge of this thing was based on what some people said while seeing the monster before they met a tragic fate. For example, when Malorie’s sister saw it she immediately said, “What the **** is that?” before she ultimately crashed her own car intentionally. Another example is when the women who tried to help Malorie get inside her house saw it and said, “Mother?” However, later on, we found out that her mother has been dead for years. This monster seems to embody people’s deepest, darkest thoughts that are more than capable of depressing them, which possibly has a huge tie into the overall meaning of this movie… but who knows? The only way to find out is to bravely read on.
How Did the Crazies Survive?
One insane concept is that anyone who saw this “monster” didn’t survive, except the people from the psych wards and asylums. What a truly petrifying concept: it’s the end of the world, yet only the insane people can live normally. In addition to this, they loved to be outside, draw countless pictures of what they saw and wanted everybody else to see this “monster” for themselves. Were these people chosen by the monster to make everyone see? Or are their minds just simply more capable of enabling them to be able to see this monster and survive it without any effort? Maybe there are more reasons to it, maybe we should stop being terrified of this fact and look more closely into the one clear question: what exactly makes them different than us?
What Is the Underlying Meaning?
Finally, the big question that can answer all questions: what is the underlying meaning of “Bird Box?” Well for starters, I think it’s all a huge metaphor for awareness of the mental illnesses that people deal with every single day, whether we realize it or not and how serious they really can be. It should be treated as any other disease, not a phase or a mood, because mental illness is a very real monster. You have no idea what battles people may be continuously having in their minds and being mentally ill can happen to absolutely anyone, even the happiest person you know. That’s why I think absolutely nobody was safe from this “monster,” just how no one is safe from becoming mentally ill and it’s in no way a choice people get to make.
In addition to this, the crazy people wanted everybody else to see it so everyone could see what it feels like to be mentally ill and deal with these suicidal thoughts, as many mentally ill people do sadly. Most importantly no one can see the monster, just how nobody can see mental illness, yet it’s still a very real thing. Mental illnesses should be recognized like every other illness and I think this movie truly found the most freaky, yet intriguing way to show us all that.
Will There Be a Sequel?
There have been plenty of rumors going around about if there will be a sequel that will explain even a few of the numerous questions we all have for “Bird Box.” However, they literally just finished this movie a month ago and are completely blown away by all the attention it’s been getting so we’ll have to wait and see… but they would be crazy not to! “Bird Box” was originally a book written back in 2014 with no sequel, so it will be very interesting to see if they are able to come up with a completely original, never before seen or heard of sequel to this truly captivating concept. No matter what, as a strongly committed Netflix binge-watcher, all I ask is Netflix, please keep it up with these insightful, underlying meanings for these unique, yet thrilling movies (and definitely some more Sandra Bullock).