Bird

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1:41

Bird

R

Released Nov 8, 2024

1h 59m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

131 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

The long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking from Academy Award-winner Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Fish Tank), BIRD is a tender, striking and extraordinarily surprising coming-of-age fable about marginalized life in the fringes of contemporary society. 12-year-old Bailey (astounding newcomer Nykiya Adams) lives with her devoted but chaotic single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan, Saltburn) and wayward brother Hunter in a squat in Gravesend, north Kent. Approaching puberty and seeking attention and adventure, Bailey's fractured home life is transformed when she encounters Bird (Franz Rogowski, Passages), a mysterious stranger on a journey of his own. A wondrous portrait of the transition from childhood to adolescence that remains grounded in her typically empathetic social realism, Arnold's latest strides to the wildly poetic rhythm of her own drum.

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Critics Consensus

Director Andrea Arnold strikes a coming-of-age chord through Nykiya Adams' moving performance, marrying fantasy and reality to the dizzying end.

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Wenlei Ma

The Nightly (AU)

Bird frequently feels as if we’re in an extended vignette where we’re tagging along for a ride with no beginning, middle or end.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 1, 2025

Full Review

Stephen Romei

The Australian

This film is an interesting shift for the director in that it adds magical realism to the social realism that underpins previous works such as Fish Tank (2009) and American Honey (2016).

Rated: 3.5/5

Feb 21, 2025

Full Review

Karl Quinn

Sydney Morning Herald

It meanders at times, but it soars too, lifted high on a belief love and family really do matter, no matter how scrappy and unconventional a form they may take.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 19, 2025

Full Review

Jane Freebury

Jane Freebury

Despite the difficult and weighty subjects here, like underage and neglectful parenting, the film's social realism finds way of escape in an irrepressible sense of fun and an immersive, uplifting natural world

Rated: 4/5

Feb 25, 2025

Full Review

Anthony Morris

It's Better in the Dark

It's a swirling film, full of joy and grinding poverty, despair and the beauty of nature pushing through ruins

Feb 21, 2025

Full Review

Jim Schembri

jimschembri.com

The film builds to a daring final reel that has been deftly built to with impressive subtlety. In lesser hands, the gift the film bestows on viewers wouldn’t have worked so beautifully.

Rated: 3.5/5

Feb 20, 2025

Full Review

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Elsie M

Another great Andrea Arnold film. This definitely needs time to process after watching it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/19/24

Full Review

James

This is a remarkable movie. It ranges from a level of realism that will make you a little uncomfortable to outright magic, and the acting is uniformly superb. No summary could do it justice, just see it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/18/24

Full Review

Edith

Very boring. I walked out of the theater

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/17/24

Full Review

Shannon P

Gritty view of life, with some fantasy as well. Interesting film good job by actors

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/15/24

Full Review

Joyce H

All the performances were Grade A. Keoghan & Rogowski at their best.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/08/24

Full Review

Ian S

I love her films...is that wrong, given they're so real and sometimes harrowing. This has something magical in it and the end made me cry. More please.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/05/25

Full Review

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Andrea Arnold

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Franz Rogowski

Bird

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Bird: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

The long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking from Academy Award-winner Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Fish Tank), BIRD is a tender, striking and extraordinarily surprising coming-of-age fable about marginalized life in the fringes of contemporary society. 12-year-old Bailey (astounding newcomer Nykiya Adams) lives with her devoted but chaotic single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan, Saltburn) and wayward brother Hunter in a squat in Gravesend, north Kent. Approaching puberty and seeking attention and adventure, Bailey's fractured home life is transformed when she encounters Bird (Franz Rogowski, Passages), a mysterious stranger on a journey of his own. A wondrous portrait of the transition from childhood to adolescence that remains grounded in her typically empathetic social realism, Arnold's latest strides to the wildly poetic rhythm of her own drum.

Director: Andrea Arnold
Producer: Lee Groombridge, Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross
Screenwriter: Andrea Arnold
Distributor: MUBI
Production Co: arte France Cinéma, Access Entertainment, FirstGen Content, British Film Institute, Pinky Promise, BBC Films, House Productions, Ad Vitam
Rating: R (Some Violent Content|Language Throughout|Drug Material)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 8, 2024, Limited
Runtime: 1h 59m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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