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Shadows catches up ’24
Reviews of films I only managed to see late in the game...

On this page: BIRD

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 15.Dec.24

Bird
Review by Rich Cline | 4/5

MUST SEE

dir-scr Andrea Arnold
with Nykiya Adams, Franz Rogowski, Barry Keoghan, Jason Buda, Jasmine Jobson, Frankie Box, James Nelson-Joyce, Sarah Beth Harber
release US/UK 8.Nov.24
24/UK BBC 1h59

CANNES • TORONTO • LONDON

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With airy cinematography by Robbie Ryan and an equally loose narrative style, writer-director Andrea Arnold reminds us why she's one of Britain's most important filmmakers. From the perspective of an alert preteen with a fragile homelife, the film digs deep into thoughts, feelings and imagination. It may feel somewhat fantastical, but it's also startlingly honest and warmly humane. This family may be a mess, but it's a family.

On the Kent coast,12-year-old Bailey (Adams) lives in a squat with her tattooed father Bug (Keoghan), who acts younger than she does and her big brother Hunter (Buda). She's taken aback when Bug announces that he's marrying his new girlfriend Kayleigh (Box). Then one morning she meets the free-spirited Bird (Rogowski), who's lost in a cow pasture and looking for information about his family. While Bailey tries to help both him and Hunter, she also finds herself at odds with Skate (Nelson-Joyce), the brutish boyfriend of her mother Peyton (Jobson).

Accompanied by a fantastic song score and music by Buried, the film catches the way Bailey hates being treated like a kid, perhaps because she's always the least childish person in a room. She's also seen differently after her first period. Bailey films scenes from her life, which are artfully projected onto her bedroom ceiling. This contrasts, for instance, with her determination to accompany Hunter's vigilante gang on a tense mission. There's also magical realism in Bird perching on rooftops, Bug's hallucinogenic toad and a black crow that's always nearby.

Anchored by bright newcomer Adams, performances are excellent, with flares of offbeat energy that always feel authentic. Where Bailey's story goes is harrowing for several reasons. It's difficult to watch this child try to navigate such a scary adult world, even if Bird sometimes feels like a kind of guardian angel. This is a film that demands that the viewer approach it on several levels, thinking about the serious issues, wrestling with the resonant urgency and letting the stylised flourishes play emotionally. This is a gorgeous ode to inner strength and connection.

themes, language, violence 15.Dec.24

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL