-wait it's Bird Box...

Okay Bird Box. and this one promises to be a smashing good time. From the writer of

Arrival and the director of The Night Manager, comes

one of Netflix's most anticipated horror-thrillers

since A Christmas Prince

So in this video we're gonna unravel the mysteries of

Bird Box, finding out what this movie is really about

and delving into the lure of its' mysteries monsters.

While Bird Box is the story of a woman struggling to survive

in a world of vision monsters, it's equally

the story of a woman overcoming her ability to love

and connect. But in order to understand the ending,

we must first start at the beginning and juxtapose where

our protagonist ,Malorie, began

and where she ends the film. How she changes

and what she learns along the way is

at the core of what this film is trying to say

-that and don't open your eyes. When Jessica ,Malorie's

sister, visits her Malorie is essentially a shut in.

Her fridge is empty.

Her sister has to get her food. She's

unaware of the mass suicides going on in Russia

,and it's like pulling teeth trying to get Malorie out of

the house even to see a prized Arabian horse.

Not to mention, Malorie isn't talking to

her mom and all communication with her is done through

Jessica. Essentially, she has

withdrawn herself from the world ,but one of the things

isolation and negative outlook of the world

not only through the dialogue

but whats happening visually. The scene starts with black

paint smeared over a canvas and the irony isn't lost

that the profession of our protagonist in the film that relies on

people not being able to see...is one of

a painter. In fact almost all the paintings

in Malorie's studio are dark and depressing.

Jessica remarks on the large one saying,

"I think i see a whole bunch of people

sitting together ,but they all feel incredibly lonely."

And what better statement of today's society?

We're more connected than ever, yet with more increasing

rates of depression, but it's how Malorie responds

to this that gets at the heart of what this film is really about.

Loneliness is just incidental.

It's really really about people's inability to connect.

Our protagonist is stating what her problem

is, but she's unwilling to do anything to change it.

It's only by going through the

journey through the rest of this film that she will learn the error of her ways

and embrace connecting with others

,but lets go back to the other paintings.

Like this one here showing a woman alone in the darkness

;isolated just like our protagonist.

Or my favorite, this one

light shining on her body giving the slightest bit of hope.

As the film progresses, Malory is confronted with

more and more scenarios which will challenge her outlook on life

and force her to adapt and ultimately connect and love.

coincidence Malory is wearing a blue jacket with a feathered trim

she's our blue bird, a sad depressed alone creature

and this is one of my favorite shots in the entire film

there are two women on their phones in the left, smiling connecting with

others. The one on the far left in

bright orange juxt-

opposed with our protagonist on the right

no phone, all in blue, sad on what should be a very happy day.

going to see her child

on the ultrasound. And the color blue becomes a recurring motif for Malorie

or the majority of the film she wears a blue blindfold

And the scene where Marolie promises Olympia to take care of her child

What does she hand over to her? A blue bag that says

"Thank you" on it. Once Malorie agrees to this...

she is metaphorically handing over a piece of her sadness

This will be chipped further as the story goes on.

Malorie find her hold-up with a group of survivors

And if she's going to survive

she's going to need to learn to connect and open up

One of the more interesting things about this film is

how the story is told using Flashbacks

I thought that this was an interesting and more

dynamic way to tell a story than to simply

tell it chronologically. We get little clues like

the birds who we later find out that were taken from the grocery store

The birds not only provide a warning sign for the creature but act as a symbol of caged

freedom and hope. When Tom tells girl and boy a

story about what he saw at the top of a tree

This is followed up by Malorie

arguing with him that he was giving the kids false hope

You see her character hasn't changed yet

That will happen more near the end

Tom argues that the hope that one day they might be free

is exactly what the kids need. The title "Bird Box"

refers to the box girl carries around

that holds the three birds, is also

bang on because our characters are essentially are trapped

birds themselves.

They can hardly venture out. With only brief

Glimpses of the out side world like the little holes

on the bird box that provided light for our birds

Not only birds but other animals help relay

this idea of freedom.

Particularly the Arabian horse that Jessica wanted to

look at, at which Malorie sees on the news shortly

after Jessica's death.

A horse the kind her sister was going to purchase

is now free�

And horses in particullar have a long history of being associated with freedom

Malorie's isolation in the survivors house is

put in full display when olympia decides to bunk with her

Olympia even says

But When Malorie is asked about her family she makes

makes up and excuse to leave.

We already know that Malorie doesn't talk to her mom

We'll find latter that her dad was a a**hole. And we only get one

sentence explaning this, but Ryan, the guy who knocked her up basically left her.
That's a lot of baggage and these are all the culmunating

reasons why Malorie has such a negative out look on life.

But that negativity doesn't mean Malorie is a bad person (or looking)

And the writer understood this by putting Malorie

in situations where

she does the right thing or does something kind

Some examples include when she sticks up to

Douglas, who suggest that they abandon the others survivors and

just live at the grocery store, her love for animals or getting Olympia a beanie baby for her child

The sad irony of all this is that Malorie yearns

to connect, but

she doesn't realize it or is strong enough to make that leap

at least not yet

Perhaps the saddest encapsulation

of Malorie's inavility to connect is calling the kids,

one of which is her own flesh and blood,

simply boy and girl, it dehumanises

them. Why Tom didn't gave them names

Is beyond me, but that's besides the point

Malorie isn't acting like a mom, she is acting like a survivor

Tom even says to her:

and

Sadder is that the kids dont even call her mom, they call her by

her first name, Malorie

Of course, this changes after Malorie's brutal

two day journey with the kids down the river.

After the boat capsizes and she loses contact with the kids

She forced to feel to what it's like to be truly alone.

She apologises to girl

and then she feels the monster behind her,

She's willing to sacrifice herself for those she loves.

And in the final scene at the school for the blind,

she explains for the first time that she is their mother,

finally giving them proper names

She has completed her journey to live amongst the freedom of the birds

But this still doesn't explain the biggest

mystery of the film:

What the hell is the monster?

Now for the purposes of this segment,

I'm gonna go back referring to it as a creature

and as a force, so just bare with me here

So, let's start with what we know

Starting in around summer, a mysterious force appeared

in parts of Siberia and Russia which made people suicidal.

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00:07:07,180 --> 00:07:09,760

This force then spread over a matter of days

and eventually spreading to California

where the majority of our story takes place.

As evidence with Jessica, this force, when seen

alters people's psychological make up

and this alteration manifests itself in different ways

depending on the person.

For example, happy people like Malorie's sister

or Lydia, Douglas's wife, who he called the 'kindest woman on Earth',

killed themselves Malorie even says when describing her sister being taken over

that this force made her sister sad

This creature also draws you in by manipulating your thoughts.

When Lydia's drawn to it, she hears her mom talking to her
A mom Douglas exclaims has been dead

for ten years.

On the other hand, we have those who are effected by this force

in different ways

Those who aim to harm others.

Like Charlie's coworker, who he tells us is an ex-convict

and the mental asylum escapees from Northwood.

These evil ones all have in common a violent or mentally deranged past

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00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,300

They have already lived their deepest, darkest fears

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00:08:04,300 --> 00:08:05,280

and thus are

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00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,180

effected differently by this creature, than others

And just a note that I do know that not all who are psychologically damaged

are violent

I know I'll get hate in the comments if I don't bring that up.

The TV announcer says it's not a virus and its origins are unknown

But Charlie, a resident conspiracy theorist believes

he has an explanation

What's happening is the end game or end of the world

Humanity has been judged and we have been found wanting.

Judged by what he refers to as

Spirit Creatures, who take the form of our worst fears,

Thus,

a slew of demons from around the world who manipulate the minds of

their victims. These demons come from various religions

and mythologies and include

the Aka Manah, Davis from the Middle East Zoroastrianism religion

Suruga from ancient christian acultis

and the interesting

thing about this one is it

made pregnant woman believe their children were

lobsters or spiders

It cuts directly to pregnant Malorie when he says this.

There's also the Holajain (not sure of spelling) from China

And the Phooka from Houlo. He says their all different

names but they all mean the same thing:

The end of us.

But one thing we know is that we can't see it.

And that's why we actually never see these creatures in the film

The film makers wanted us to put us in the shoes

of the characters to have us, the viewer

as blind as them.

The closest we get to any visual

representation of them is

when Gary props down his drawings.

ow we don't know if for certain if these are images in his head

or if they are of the actual creature

But I like to think that they are the various representations

of the demons Charlie referred to earlier.

In the end, we may not have gotten that cool creature reveal

like in a quiet place but that's the point.

The creature manifesting our greatest

fears, sadness and loss.

And only by confronting these inner demons in Malorie's case

her inability to connect,

can we overcome and survive

I hope you enjoyed this video.

I come out with all sorts of cool breakdowns,

explanations and theory videos so please give it a like, share and subscribe

because I have a ton of cool videos planned for the future

Until next time remember..."Daddy loves you very much"