Bird Box Barcelona – Netflix Review (2/5)

BIRD BOX BARCELONA on Netflix is an expansion of the apocalyptic horror universe from the 2018 mega-hit. The star of this particular Bird Box story is Mario Casas. A familiar face from several Spanish genre productions. Read our full Bird Box Barcelona movie review here!

BIRD BOX BARCELONA is a new Netflix horror movie in the apocalyptic world we came to know with the 2018 mega-hit. Most of this story takes place in the post-apocalyptic world. Obviously with a few flashbacks to how it all began in Barcelona. Not least, to make sure we understand what kind of person someone was before the world changed forever.

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Our review of the 2018 original movie Bird Box here >

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this and I can’t say I was impressed. However, I did like that we’re confronted with a few language issues. As this takes place in a city that attracts many tourists, it’s not surprising that there are quite a few characters who don’t speak Spanish. In fact, one doesn’t even speak English – a young German girl who works really well.

Continue reading our Bird Box Barcelona movie review below. Find it on Netflix worldwide from July 14, 2023.

A new story but also a predictable one

Sure, it’s fascinating to step back into the world we came to know in late 2018. However, there isn’t much new. Or actually, that’s not true because there are new elements to the story. None that are extensively covered though, and I would very much have preferred that.

This expansion of the apocalyptic horror universe is too much of a light story. It feels like an episode of a TV series to me and not a fully formed movie. One with way too many tropes.

Okay okay, maybe it’s just me expecting too much or watching way too many genre stories. Whatever the case, I found much of the story in Bird Box Barcelona to be quite predictable. From the plot twists – that have very clearly been teased and foreshadowed early on – to the selfish characters we know from every major apocalyptic horror story.

While we all know that survival instinct can be fight or flight (or freeze) for most, you’d think that the groups formed in this Barcelona storyline have developed some form of trust. I didn’t quite buy how easily some were duped and others surprised by those they trusted.

For me, this would’ve worked much better if the story had played out in the early days after the creatures arrived.

Mario Casas stars in Bird Box Barcelona

The star of this particular Bird Box story is Mario Casas. He’s someone many will recognize. Especially if you’ve watched a few Netflix genre productions. He will undoubtedly be a familiar face. Most recently, he starred in the Netflix series The Innocent (2021). Before that, he was amazing in The Paramedic and played a supporting role in The Occupant (2020).

Along with Mario Casas, we come across quite a few other actors. Especially since, during the 1 hour and 50-minute runtime, Sebastián (Mario Casas) meets quite a few other groups of people for a shorter or longer amount of time.

The other main actor in Bird Box Barcelona is the British actor Georgina Campbell. You may recognize Georgina Campbell from Black Mirror (the “Hang the DJ” episode from season 4). More recently, she also starred in the intense and extremely brutal horror movie Barbarian (2022).

In this story, she plays one of those aforementioned characters who just happened to be in Barcelona when the apocalypse happened. And, if you remember the 2018 movie, it happens very quickly. Something that is also covered in a very good way here.

Seeing this strange invisible sickness take over Barcelona was perhaps my favorite part of the movie. It was just very direct and familiar in tying into the original movie.

Watch Bird Box Barcelona on Netflix

David Pastor and Àlex Pastor are the directors and writers of Bird Box Barcelona. The filmmaker brothers, who were both born in Barcelona, have already made quite a few solid horror movies. Including the very apocalyptic and pandemic kind as David Pastor and Àlex Pastor wrote and directed the 2009 movie Carriers starring Chris Pine and Piper Perabo.

MORE FROM THE PASTOR BROTHERS

David Pastor and Àlex Pastor also developed the series The Head released in 2020 >

Personally, I feel that their previous stories have been stronger than this one. Maybe that’s part of why I ended up feeling disappointed with this one. For the record, Bird Box Barcelona does obviously also credit Josh Malerman as having written the novel it’s based on.

I was hoping to love this movie, but found it to be just OK. It’s not bad per se, but I can’t say it’s particularly good either. In fact, it’s clumsy and predictable in ways that just do not work in a movie that is part of an established horror universe.

Bottom line: Do I want more Bird Box movies after watching this? Oh yeah, I definitely do. Do I want them even if they’re no better than this one?! Sure, but I’d definitely prefer stronger chapters in this horror story. And that should be possible.

Bird Box Barcelona is on Netflix from July 14, 2023.

Details

Directors: Àlex Pastor, David Pastor
Screenplay: Àlex Pastor, David Pastor
Cast: Mario Casas, Georgina Campbell, Diego Calva, Alejandra Howard, Naila Schuberth, Lola Dueñas, Michelle Jenner, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Patrick Criado, Alejandra Howard, Gonzalo de Castro