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Bird

Bird

2024

Andrea Arnold

Nykiya Adams, Barry Keoghan, Franz Rogowski, Jasmine Jobson ...

6.9

879

Drama 12 year old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids and Bailey who is approaching puberty seeks attention and adventure elsewhere.

	Media	Author	Review
		Joe Utichi Deadline	"Once more, Arnold is perfecting her meandering journey through marginalized existences (...) Arnold knows just how to get under our skin. If we struggle to settle into all this misery to begin with, by the end we’re as invested as we could be"
		Ryan Lattanzio IndieWire	"An often shimmering, lovely, and emotionally generous entry in a career that's never faltered"
		Donald Clarke Irish Times	"A film that showcases Arnold's gifts while allowing new and surprising elements. Few will resist the richness and fullness of her characterisation (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"[It] will please Andrea Arnold obsessives, but apart from that I’m not sure there’s much of an audience for it (...) 'Bird' is a feel-bad movie that turns into a feel-good movie. What it never feels like is a totally authentic movie"
		Dave Calhoun Time Out	"Bailey [is] a character you feel Arnold would lie on railtracks to protect –and that’s a powerful, moving instinct to share (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Lee Marshall Screendaily	"A moving flight of hope and empowerment"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"Opinions will divide about that and the movie generally – it’s a minor Arnold, with fluency and energy (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Tim Robey Telegraph	"An odd foray into magical realism (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Patrice Witherspoon Screen Rant	"Newcomer Nykiya Adams delivers a stunning performance in disappointing harrowing drama (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"
		Rory O'Connor The Film Stage	"This first foray into anthropomorphism feels strangely surface-level and does more to break the film’s spell than enhance it"
		David Fear Rolling Stone	"It may be the most divisive movie of Andrea Arnold’s career (...) But like everything else she’s done to date, it’s also rewarding in unexpected ways"
		Chris Wasser Irish Independent	"The ideas keep on coming, but this difficult, disjointed feature never quite finds its groove. The social realism works; the misplaced fantasy angle doesn’t (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Chase Hutchinson The Wrap	"What ensures this works is that the characters and their interactions are all beautifully realized"
		Peter Howell Toronto Star	"There are distinct Frank Capra vibes in this brilliantly barmy dramedy from Andrea Arnold (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Robert Abele Los Angeles Times	"'Bird' at least maintains a heartbeat of ache and affection for youth in all its rudeness, revealing a filmmaker who isn’t afraid of losing her claws if she traffics in the thing with feathers"
		David Robb Slant	"Andrea Arnold’s Gritty, Sentimental Coming-of-Age Fable Flies Blind (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Jordan Bassett NME	"In true Andrea Arnold style, though, it’s also a life-enhancing tale that soars with unexpected grace, optimism and faith in humanity (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Alissa Wilkinson The New York Times	"There’s a wealth of lovely performances (...) But the two poles of the movie are Rogowski and Keoghan, who radiate precisely opposite energies"
		Brian Tallerico rogerebert.com	"It helps a great deal to have such a naturally powerful performance from a newcomer like Adams. We know what Keoghan and Rogowski can do, but it's Adams who carries nearly every frame of this film (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Caleb Hammond Collider	"Andrea Arnold's 'Bird' has plenty of welcome additions to her playbook, but there is still much here that feels too familiar (...) Rating: 6 (out of 10)"
		Sophie Butcher Empire	"A classic Andrea Arnold picture, complete with striking new talent and moving insight into life lived on the margins (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Alison Willmore Vulture	"Is an Endearing, Ungainly Modern-Day Fairy Tale"
		Nick Schager The Daily Beast	"Barry Keoghan is arguably the most electric actor working today, and he absolutely ignites 'Bird'"
		Leslie Felperin The Hollywood Reporter	"Thanks to the director's magisterial knack with actors, the result is quite entrancing"
		Jo-Ann Titmarsh London Evening Standard	"Adams carries the film on her young shoulders and is aided by the support of Keoghan, whose portrayal as her charming, volatile, loving and erratic father is a tour de force (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Natalia Keogan AV Club	"While 'Bird' still employs an interest in socially vulnerable characters, its viewpoint feels less rooted in authentic struggle than in sensationalistic strife (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"
		Justin Chang The New Yorker	"Arnold is certainly skilled at integrating recognizable actors into her grottily realist frames, and she has an appealing lead performer. But the story may lose you—as it lost me—"
		Kevin Maher The Times	"It's an earnest film about truth and love. Cynics may be triggered (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Rafaela Sales Ross The Playlist	"Arnold extracts a career-making performance out of her young protagonist with Nykiya Adams"
		Farah Cheded Paste Magazine	"This film is both more raw and more fantastical than her previous works, existing on spectrum extremes in a way her other films haven’t"
		James Mottram Total Film	"With cinematographer Robbie Ryan finding beauty in even the starkest of images, 'Bird' takes flight quite brilliantly (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

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