Bird Box Barcelona movie review (2023) | Roger Ebert (2024)

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Bird Box Barcelona movie review (2023) | Roger Ebert (1)

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Early into “Bird Box Barcelona,” a set-up foretells the shallow test of fate the film will attempt. The workmanlike, passable Spanish-set sequel to the apocalyptic horror sci-fi flick “Bird Box” opens as Sebastián (Mario Casas) and his daughter Anna (Alejandra Howard) are celebrating her birthday by roller skating. Afterward, they’re jumped for their food by a blind trio of goons. Later, they encounter a group of scavengers who plead for help. Sebastián tells them he’s a former engineer and knows where there’s a generator. He just needs shelter for the night.

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The group takes him in andmends his wounds. While sleeping in the comforts of a depot, someone hijacks the bus they’re slumbering in, exposing everyone to the open. If you’ve seen the first “Bird Box,” you know the deal: There are creatures that seem to live in the air, and whenyou look at them, they whisper your deepest desires to you so that you might die by suicide. The narrative now asks, “Is Sebastián the shepherd or the wolf?” While co-directors David Pastor and Àlex Pastor are intrigued by injecting religiosity into an apocalyptic narrative, their instincts lack flair or a point. This version feels like it’s trying to reengineer the prior film’s success without any of the originality.

"Bird Box Barcelona"takes inspiration from a tiny nugget from the first movie by Susanne Bier.Some people can look upon the creatures without later turning to self-harm. Instead, they’ve formed a kind of cult around the creatures. Seven months ago, Sebastián had a run-in with Barcelona’s version of that clan. It takes time before we learn exactly what happened. But in the meantime, we figure out the mythology that drives Sebastián: He believes these creatures are seraphs. Not only that, he gets a kick out of seeing the celestial orb that seems to float up to the heavens from the people who die.

Like many films, “Bird Box Barcelona” advertises itself as a narrative about grief, covering the subject in the blandest ways. Before long, Sebastián discovers another group, this time led by the British-Spaniard Claire (Georgina Campbell). She happens to be dressed in the same color scheme as Sandra Bullock in the first film, an all-too-on-the-nose attempt to recreate that magic. The primary figures among Claire’s companions are Octavia (an underused Diego Calva), a lost German girl looking for her mother, Sofia (Naila Schuberth), and an elderly couple, Isabel (Lola Dueñas) and Roberto (Gonzalo de Castro). Nearly all of them have lost somebody, which makes them vulnerable when the creatures whisper in their ear with the voice of long-gone loved ones.

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The script by the Pastors (with Josh Malerman's novel still an inspiration)skims the surface of grief. Their film says that the trauma wrought by grief might push you to lose your senses, decimate your logic, and maybe even make you go on a religious crusade. But that sense isn’t deeply felt in any of the characters. Instead, we’re given their base-level tragedy and not much else. Outside of Sebastián, are any of them religious? Do they blame God for what happened? The film is in such a rush to create a quick binary between Sebastián’s mission and this group of people that it doesn’t bother to get us to care about them.

It doesn’t help that much of the mystery and intrigue that accompanied the concept from the previous “Bird Box” evaporates here. Rather the primary goal is for these survivors to trace their way through Barcelona to a set of gondolas that’ll take them to Montjuic Castle, where there are rumors that survivors are hiding out. Sofia’s mom might even be among them.

Along the way, Sebastián must, of course, grapple with his faith. But that internal conflict lacks dramatic tension. The same can be said about the horror aspect. “Bird Box Barcelona” is cut with assured hands by editors Luis de la Madrid and Martí Roca and shot with a watchful eye by cinematographer Daniel Aranyó, but there’s a general dearth of shocks. That bite is even absent from the film’s final race to the gondolas, where Sebastián and the survivors must square off with the head of this doomsday cult. Its leader, a bearded man with a third eye branded on his hand, is so barely sketched he might as well be a figment of Sebastián’s mind.

There’s nothing inherently bad in the Pastors’ film. It’s competently made with the general sheen you expect from a bigger budget. You are, however, left scratching your head about what another sequel could bring that this one clearly couldn’t. No one in this cast is as dynamic as Bullock, nor is anything as tightly conceived as in the prior film. If seeing is believing, “Bird Box Barcelona” doesn’t have much to show.

On Netflix tomorrow, July 14th.

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Film Credits

Bird Box Barcelona movie review (2023) | Roger Ebert (9)

Bird Box Barcelona (2023)

Rated R

110 minutes

Cast

Mario Casasas Sebastián

Alejandra Howardas Anna

Georgina Campbellas Claire

Naila Schuberthas Sofia

Leonardo Sbaragliaas Padre Esteban

Diego Calvaas Octavio

Director

  • Àlex Pastor
  • David Pastor

Writer (based on the novel by)

  • Josh Malerman

Writer

  • Àlex Pastor
  • David Pastor

Cinematographer

  • Daniel Aranyó

Editor

  • Luis de la Madrid
  • Martí Roca

Composer

  • Zeltia Montes

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Bird Box Barcelona movie review (2023) | Roger Ebert (2024)

FAQs

Bird Box Barcelona movie review (2023) | Roger Ebert? ›

This version feels like it's trying to reengineer the prior film's success without any of the originality. "Bird Box Barcelona" takes inspiration from a tiny nugget from the first movie by Susanne Bier. Some people can look upon the creatures without later turning to self-harm.

What was the point of Bird Box Barcelona? ›

Bird Box Barcelona explores the post-apocalyptic world where strange phenomena cause mass suicides, leaving small groups of people living in fear and wearing blindfolds to protect themselves.

Is it worth watching Bird Box Barcelona? ›

Bird Box Barcelona holds extremely well as a drama-horror film and is worth investing your time in. Content collapsed. It's certainly no clone of its 2018 predecessor. The Pastors do a good job of giving their film its own identity, taking the same concept and building on it in a number of interesting ways.

Why is Sebastian immune Bird Box? ›

This happened to Sebastián and his "extreme form" of stress was the grief at the loss of his daughter. The military has hypothesised that if all seers share the same "epigenetic alteration", then this discovery could lead to a way to create immunity to the creatures' effects.

Why did Sebastian crash the bus in Bird Box Barcelona? ›

He finds the keys to the bus and drives the screaming passengers outside and crashes it. He then forces any survivors who crawl out of the wreckage to look at the creatures. Sebastián doesn't see this as an evil act; on the contrary, he believes he's saving people as the creatures look like angels to him.

What are the monsters in Bird Box Barcelona? ›

The Bird Box Barcelona monsters appear as angels to Sebastian. One theory explored in the movie is that the monsters can become anything, shapeshifting to a form specific to the person looking at them.

What happened to Sebastian's daughter in Bird Box Barcelona? ›

Padre Esteban soon became a seer and forced people to look at the creatures the same way that he did, leading a group of other seers. One day, Sebastián and Anna tried to hide for some time, but Padre Esteban soon found their hiding place and captured them. He forced Anna to open her eyes, killing her.

What's the difference between Bird Box and Bird Box Barcelona? ›

FAQs. Q1:Is Bird Box Barcelona a sequel to Bird Box? No, Bird Box Barcelona is not a sequel to Bird Box. It is a spin-off movie that takes place in the same universe as the original film, but it features new characters and a different storyline.

What's the plot of Bird Box Barcelona? ›

What happens to the dogs in Bird Box Barcelona? ›

Your Triggers. Does the dog die? The monsters pretend to be the dogs in pain so you can hear dogs crying but it's not the real dogs. You do not see nor hear the dogs die but they stay outside (where the monsters are) while the rest of the group escapes and get to a safe closed area.

Who is the villain in Bird Box Barcelona? ›

But about 20 minutes into the film, we see Sebastián infiltrate a group of people who have escaped death, and he basically kills them all in either a coach crash, or by forcing them to look at the creature. Plot twist: he's the bad guy!

Why does Sebastian wear goggles in Bird Box? ›

Legions of people attempted tasks blindfolded, like the characters in the film who can only traverse the outside world with their eyes shielded. Why? Because an alien entity is causing anyone who sees it to commit suicide in horrifyingly violent ways.

Why is Sebastian so powerful? ›

Sebastian, no matter how he may act otherwise at times, is a Demon through and through. Sebastian, while he appears as a human; is indeed a demon. He is gifted with immense strength, speed, power, fast reflexes, and grace. He does not feel pain the same way as humans, though he certainly isn't immune to it or injury.

What is the message of Bird Box Barcelona? ›

In comparison to the original story, Bird Box: Barcelona falls short. The only lesson learned by the main character here is that he isn't “chosen,” he's just “broken.” A grieving father manipulated into believing that he can be reunited with his daughter if he helps “free” the souls of others.

What is the eye symbol in the Bird Box Barcelona? ›

Sebastian in fact has joined a cult led by a priest with no more faith. This sect has a barred eye as its symbol and hunts down survivors.

What was the whole point of Bird Box? ›

The film is a response to a culture of 'don't look and it won't affect you', so alive today. An 'alien' who remains frustratingly unseen, faceless, invisible throughout the movie serves to represent that which people try to repress from their consciousness.

What is the plot of Bird Box Barcelona? ›

What is the purpose of a Bird Box? ›

A lack of natural nesting sites can limit the size of bird populations. Putting up nest boxes provides nest sites for cavity or hole-nesting birds. Nest boxes help maintain and increase the numbers of some rare or threatened species.

What is the purpose of the creatures in Bird Box? ›

The revelation suggests the creatures not only induce hallucinations, but actually are somehow creating a psychic rapport with the victim and very intentionally manipulating them to self-harm while they're in a kind of trance.

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