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Bird Movie Review

Bird is a 2024 drama film directed by Andrea Arnold and starring Nykiya Adams, Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski. It’s a very weak indie flick.

Bailey lives with her single father Bug and her brother Hunter in a squat in northern Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time to devote to his children and Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks attention and adventure elsewhere. First off, I am not a fan of Andrea Arnold’s directorial style that to me is overly grounded in reality and lacking in cinematic qualities. ‘Fish Tank’ did not appeal to me much and the same can be said for this film.

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This is one of those British indies that are stripped of any more cinematic elements in favor of a grounded drama that is set in an impoverished area. There are magical realist elements included here for a change, but those did not add a lot to the story and were just there for artistic purposes. But I would not call the movie itself artistic at the end of the day.

Nykiya Adams was fine in the main role, but Bailey is underdeveloped and uninteresting as a character. More should have been done with her character to make her story and the entire film more interesting. Keoghan was typecast in an over-the-top role that is a far cry from his terrific ‘Saltburn’ performance. As for Rogowski, he’s once again cast as this mysterious, intriguing figure. I liked him best of the three players, but his arc was underdeveloped.

Bird is at its best when focusing on the dynamic between Rogowski and Adams’ characters, but it’s at its worst when focusing on other underutilized characters. There is not much to this slight story worth talking about more and the dialogue is only okay. The editing, pacing and overall filmmaking left a lot to be desired, though the cinematography is actually quite good and some shots are interesting.

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