Review: Bird

Directed by: Andrea Arnold

Written by: Andrea Arnold

Starring: Nykiya Adams, Barry Keoghan, Franz Rogowski, Jason Buda, Jasmine Jobson

Rating: [2.5/5]

When reality paints an ugly portrait of life and the limited aspirations before them, you cannot blame someone for indulging in some fantasy to provide an escape. It stems from a hope to find something they can aspire towards and feel something that their current living situation cannot provide, as seen in Bird. Not having the best circumstances for a young girl, our lead character tries to find something to cling to. 

Twelve-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives with her immature father, her brother, and, somehow, a woman her father has known for 3 months and insists he will marry very shortly. She mostly lingers around day by day but then meets a man who calls himself Bird (Franz Rogowski), who’s looking for his mother. Bailey decides to help Bird on this quest. 

Andrea Arnold, as a filmmaker, has her storytelling tendencies that display a level of intensity coming through in all of her movies. She never seeks to present a story designed to provide comfort to audiences but rather to push them in depicting the messiness of humanity. Through a disconcerting teen journey in Fish Tank or the saddening tale of a young woman trying to make life better for herself in American Honey, a theme surely has made itself evident. Arnold’s characters never start in the best of places, and they attempt to make the best of their situation. Bailey’s journey is quite the same as she lives in a rundown house, has an unserious father, and has a brother engaging in illicit activities. It makes plenty of sense why she would opt to help Bird out given it’s likely the most normal activity she has before her, which truly says something. 

A component that makes Bird stand out from Arnold’s other films comes with the injection of magical realism. All of her other films remain firmly grounded in reality and how these characters reckon with what has and will happen to them. Throughout this film she employs her youngest lead character and injects this magical realism through her journey with the titular character. This combination tracks, given how despite what Bailey has seen and experienced thus far in life, she still has the youthful imaginative hope of something better for herself that comes before reaching a certain age and the realities of life truly set in. It’s something Arnold’s other lead characters did not have the luxury of experiencing themselves because they had reached a point where they could no longer afford these fantasies. 

While this film certainly stands out in its storytelling devices that differ from her other works, coincidentally, it also leads to her weakest movie. It makes sense why she would operate this story and the intention behind it, but somehow this narrative never really pulled me in. The film certainly has some intriguing characters and the personality they bring to the story, such as Bailey’s father, whose name is Bug and is portrayed by a tatted-up Barry Keoghan. Bird, portrayed by the always engaging Franz Rogowski, brings something interesting to the tale as well, but none of it really comes together in a way that clicks. Each scene feels like a vignette of something happening in the life of Bailey meant to signify something meaningful but lacks a certain cohesiveness Arnold’s other works have demonstrated. The magical realism sought to bring something different to her storytelling prowess, and it certainly did achieve that goal, but unfortunately not for the better. It left me wondering what would have happened if she played this story straight and how much better it would have turned out. 

Bird represents the very first time I leave disappointed from an Andrea Arnold film. She typically delivers emotional haymakers as she shines a light in communities not often receiving much focus as she focuses on women and how they navigate their life circumstances. At its core, this film had this same framework as we follow Bailey and what she must endure with her unfortunate living conditions. It, therefore, makes sense why she would want to engross herself in this little journey with Bird, but none of it really comes together in a way that it should, and its somewhat aimless approach just left me on the outside looking in for the majority of the runtime.