Entertainment
Over the holiday season, the Netflix original horror movie Bird Box became a breakout hit. Whether it was family ennui refocused on an easily accessible film with a pile of beloved character actors or that the creepy idea of seeing something so terrible you couldn't survive it seemed appropriate over the break, Bird Box became a surprise talking point on social media, with memes quickly proliferating. And it's continuing to generate discussion well into the new year. But if you can't face it, here are the 17 scariest Bird Box moments — as terrifying to witness as the creatures tormenting Malorie (Sandra Bullock).
For those unfamiliar, Bird Box follows tough and self-sufficient Malorie over two time periods. In flashbacks, she's single and pregnant, retreating from the world and unaware something mysterious is causing violent rashes of suicides all over the world. After the mystery hits home, Malorie holes up in a house with other survivors, and they come to realize there are creatures whose mere sight inspires instant madness and suicidal urges. In the present, she has two children in her care known only as Boy and Girl - there's a small hope for safety, but it means a dangerous river journey entirely blindfolded for all of them. The moments below are some of the scariest as the story weaves between both timelines, and Malorie's toughness becomes both survival tool and the wall preventing her from feeling fully human.
Here's why people can't stop talking about it. Major spoilers ahead.
1
The River Trip Speech To Boy & Girl
Close to the start of the movie we get a solid idea of the dangers ahead, as Malorie tells these two adorable faces that they'll die, emphasis on DIE, if they don't listen to and do everything she tells them.
2
The First Sign Of The Problem
The first frightening and irrefutable sign the problem is not just here, but right among us, comes with this woman's calm physical self-destruction, as Malorie watches in horror.
3
The Post-Sighting Suicides
Even though the stakes are made very clear: See the creatures, go insane/so sad you immediately kill yourself, it's the ways people kill themselves that are terrifying. Douglas' wife goes out to help Malorie, mumbles something about her mother, and casually climbs into a burning car. We'll never know exactly what she saw, but the results are beyond unnerving.
4
Apocalyptic Reverb
I mean, any apocalyptic implications are absolutely scary, this one just happens to be in Bird Box. Still scary though.
5
Learning The Creatures Are Deadly No Matter How You See Them
It's an experiment with unfortunately deadly results. House owner Greg bets that seeing the creatures through a secondhand set of eyes (security cameras in this case) would keep him safe.... he was wrong.
6
Blindfold Vision
Somehow not seeing anything becomes scarier than any monster you could throw in front of the camera. By giving us Malorie's point of view, director Susanne Bier puts us in her place and turns our own imaginations against us.
7
What Happened To Charlie
When a small group of survivors make a food run, they encounter the other danger, more immediate than the creatures — humans who've seen them and survived, determined to make others see too. After Charlie tackles a man holding the door open putting everyone at risk, the slow puddle of blood leaking under the door says that whatever happened, it's not good.
8
The Close Run-In With The Creatures
On that same car ride, with all windows papered over and driving slowly by GPS and sensors, there's a moment of quiet before all sensors go off at once, the group's first and way-too-close encounter with the monsters.
9
Realizing What Gary's Game Is
Fellow survivor Gary is not completely what he seems. He's one of the few people who've actually seen the monsters and managed to survive, but with a monomaniacal insistence that everyone else join them in witnessing. His eerie drawings could just be visions of a man gone mad, or could be the closest the audience gets to seeing what the creatures actually look like.
10
Malorie Trying To Reason With Olympia
Right Malorie and Olympia give birth, Gary exposes most of the household to the creatures, leading to a frightening scene where Malorie has to convince the already-gone Olympia to give her the baby instead of destroying it with her.
11
The Entire River Trip
Blindfolded. River. Trip. It's not like Malorie's an expert rower either — she grew up on a horse farm. And she's got two small children who don't know how to swim along for the ride.
12
Remnants Of The Events
Peppered quietly throughout the film are bones, bodies, and other reminders this is a completely decimated world Malorie and the kids are moving through (that's a ribcage at the bottom of that image, still wearing a skirt).
13
Malorie Realizing Her Lifeline To The Boat Is Threatened
On a quick shore raid, Malorie's entirely guided by a string line. The slender thread is her only way back to a waiting Boy and Girl, so when it's physically tugged by something outside, Malorie's torn between two kinds of survival and risking everyone's life.
14
Hell Is Other People
The most frightening thing Malorie could hear is not creatures, but another human. Able to physically harm her and the children and likely boding ill intent, Malorie already has issues with intimacy the apocalypse only sharpened.
15
Hitting The Rapids Blind
We knew it was coming the entire movie, but actually watching as Malorie decides to take on the rapids completely blind will have your heart in your throat.
16
They're Heeeeeere
Sure it seems an easy scare to put a tiny moppet in danger, but if the hairs on your head don't climb when Girl's hair does, a sure sign the creatures are not just near but RIGHT THERE in front of her chubby lil hand, you're made of stone.
17
Confronting The Creatures So Close To Safety
After a long and perilous journey, Malorie's forced to face the fact she can try her best and it might not always be possible to protect the children; the only hope she has is that her tough love still translates as love, and that they'll listen to what she's trying to do.
All of Bird Box is wildly unsettling, but these are just a taste of the moments that have haunted people long after they've switched off their screens. Like the film suggests, some things once seen can't be unseen.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. You can also reach out to the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386, or to your local suicide crisis center.
