Netflix’s adaptation of Josh Malerman’s post-apocalyptic novel, Bird Box, became a major hit on the network in 2018- this is making it seem long overdue for a sequel. David and Àlex Pastor, filmmakers take the series to Spain in Bird Box Barcelona which is not really a direct continuation but instead a simultaneous – yet unconnected – anthology chapter. No Sandra Bullock, no American settings, and almost no connection to the Malerman’s Malorie sequel. The Pastors approach Bird Box like Max Brooks’ World War Z does with different tales from across the world including various supernatural elements that are destroying people from earth without addressing issues through original film’s ever changing survival storylines.
A more supernatural exploration of the nameless creatures decimating humanity in case one movie was not enough: delving deep into cultish factions as well as religious parallels that absolutely refuse to rehash what was already known about the franchise except that it couldn’t have happened another way when approached by Pastor brothers.
Bird Box Barcelona is sequal-worthy but unfortunately suffers from thinning screenplay “logic” that comes as its only drawback to being distanced away from its predecessor. The picture revolves around an ex-engineer named Sebastián (Mario Casas) who is walking through the streets of Barcelona while keeping away from looking at hazardous beings found in this installment. Sebastián is similar to Martin Freeman’s Andy who became infected with some sort of virus or John Krasinski’s Lee Abbott in Silence – all these characters are willing to do anything just for protection of their daughters such as Anna (Alejandra Howard).
It feels like A Quiet Place II step-in-step with Bird Box Barcelona: we watch footage of Spanish city collapsing into chaos either again or observe how strong family bonds are tested by undisclosed horrors (plus same limitations on sensory perception of these individuals). However, A Quiet Place II wins that race, as Bird Box Barcelona trades in a more horrific lockdown intensity for existential and fantasy-like grim storytelling, which is an interesting trade-off that leaves us with eerie and cold horrors.
Bird Box Barcelona boasts a stellar ensemble with Georgina Campbell of Barbarians playing another survivor known as the English psychiatrist Claire and Diego Calva known for his role in Babylon as a nerdy scientist Octavio. The Pastors over-emphasize societal collapse in the face of increasingly common Lovecraftian Reapers, putting an added strain on interactions between characters. However, this is not to say that there aren’t some unsettling surprises like when the priest’s faithfulness is questioned by survivors during miracles or if someone from outside says that they know where life-saving generators are located: it’s all about subtle performances containing moments of mistrustful eyes or unbelieving hesitations. In its best moments, Bird Box Barcelona plays on mankind’s urge to trust thy neighbor and presents us with countless ways one can be deadly wrong through faith tests.
Sebastián quickly becomes a very complex character but mainly due to reasons this review will not disclose. Unfortunately, these traits hurt Bird Box Barcelona at the end of the day making it feel like it is shifting through what should have been inside slasher (without any jump out moments just cut throat scares nor mystery whodunit) or contrasting science fiction father-daughter drama. Notably though, Pastors take risks with script structure subverting how horror movies usually try to keep viewers guessing while watching; refreshing initially but boring within two hours time limit. Towards the end such cuts between present events and flashbacks that help advance stories became repetitive because we already know what would happen next- we already figure out how these flashbacks end so why waste time? This meant to shock and awe gets lost along the way sandwiching those from recent months like filler material which detracts overall experience.
However the themes are proper, it’s a psychological thriller that isn’t thrilling. And then the film criticizes the religious tendency to rapidly declare unknown things as glorious omens from heaven without reflecting on their danger or reality: Leonardo Sbaraglia is an Earth bound priest seemingly serving humanity’s new malevolent overlords. Whereas some of them may be easily manipulated, Sebastián’s past tragedies are thus made to appear more volatile in nature, revealing how fleeting human emotions can get and how easily they (and we) can be manipulated. This equals to nothing short of being another Bird Box Barcelona – there is just so much around those ethical moments.
The Pastors also committed a mistake by making this movie look and feel so generic. As for The Pastors themselves, better end times doom and gloom have been created by Carriers (2009) before Zach Snyder jumped aboard as director of Dawn of the Dead remake — low budget but highly outstanding viral outbreak indie film with more impact and presence. However, Bird Box Barcelona might stand out about Sebastián’s journey, but everything else reads like just another run-of-the-mill post-The Walking Dead dystopia. Perhaps that is because the story was stretched too thin to meet Netflix’s algorithmic long running time standards. When you feel a movie dragging that is when all its production elements begin to suffer.
Verdict
What makes Bird Box Barcelona pass by barely is those believable performances which reside within the world of fantasies slash horrors as well as lived-in characters. The Pastors take their second entry into franchise territory with an exciting sense of originality yet execution falters once again when they enter into bloated midsection where sprinting pace collapses into exhausted shuffle. All these fresh inquiries eventually become expected ones while what should be followed by other sequels or continuations turns out to extend its stay for too long thereby becoming an ordinary creative template at best.
Just don’t expect Bird Box Barcelona to perform the same way as its predecessor did— according to Netflix’s data, at least. Fans of this series should still hold positive views about these individual personality and purpose of the continental continuation, it’s only that they shouldn’t dream for Bird Box Barcelona to go viral worldwide (while the report from Netflix says so) like its successor.
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