Starring Sandra Bullock and boasting a plot not a million miles away from the smash hit horror flick A Quiet Place, Bird Box proved to be a massive success for Netflix. How massive? It was the platforms most viewed movie of all time until it was displaced by Red Notice. So, it should come as no surprise that we got a spin-off in the form of Bird Box Barcelona, which is now streaming.
As the title indicates, Bird Box Barcelona is set in Spain. It follows father Sebastián (Mario Casas) and daughter Anna (Alejandra Howard) as they struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world plagued by malevolent entities that somehow cause whoever views them to commit suicide, generally in the most convenient yet gruesome manner imaginable.
However, as viewers of the original film may recall, some folks can survive the experience. And these (arguably) lucky few have formed a cult that worships these mysterious creatures. Intriguingly, Bird Box Barcelona hints that Sebastián may be a member.
As father and child quest for safe refuge, they’re joined by a mixed bag of fellow survivors Octavio (an underused Diego Calva), lost German girl Sofia (Naila Schuberth), and elderly couple, Isabel (Lola Dueñas) and Roberto (Gonzalo de Castro). And, as things tend to go I the survival horror subgenre, the number of characters still drawing breath when the credits roll is bound to be significantly lower than what we started with.
Directed by brothers Álex and David Pastor, Bird Box Barcelona is steeped in a kind of strange, quasi-Catholic religiosity. The enigmatic monsters are dubbed Seraphs, and the film is in many ways a meditation on humanity’s tendency to try to placate what can destroy us through prayer and faith. That’s certainly an interesting angle on the now-familiar apocalypse genre, so if you’re in the mood for a little faith, grief, and horror, say hola to this one.
