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Birdboy: The Forgotten Children

Play trailer 1:55 Poster for Birdboy: The Forgotten Children 2017 1h 16m Fantasy Adventure Animation Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
94% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Animal friends hatch a dangerous plan to escape from a post-apocalyptic island, and an outcast called Birdboy unleashes a secret power that could change the world forever.
Birdboy: The Forgotten Children

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Critics Consensus

Birdboy's nihilistic coming-of-age narrative captures innocence lost through surreal, striking animation and caustically optimistic storytelling.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle 05/24/2018
3.5/5
Enthralling and effortlessly relevant, Birdboy is a searing contemporary fantasy, and often unrelenting in its savage attacks on greed, acquisitiveness, the disposable society, and some not-so-subtle jabs at Spanish Catholicism. Go to Full Review
J. R. Jones Chicago Reader 01/13/2018
The drawing style bears no resemblance to Japanese anime, yet the narrative tone is remarkably similar, with cute and sinister elements held in suspension by a deadpan cool. Go to Full Review
Matthew Lickona San Diego Reader 01/12/2018
3/5
An animated movie about troubled teens, and quite possibly for them as well, because it's so very like them: alternately sweet and scary, tender and violent, dense and scattered, and oh yes, childlike and adult. Go to Full Review
Carla Monfort Espinof 11/02/2022
4/5
A true Spanish animation gem, full of fascinating and disturbing imagery with a devastating story that warns us against the future we are building for new generations. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Jon Hogan Hyperallergic 02/10/2020
With Birdboy, the techniques and tools of cinema allow Vázquez to realize the strongest possible version of a story adapted many times. Go to Full Review
Mattie Lucas From the Front Row 06/04/2019
2.5/4
A film that's easier to respect than to like, filled with dazzling artwork but saddled with a scattered story that doesn't always connect on an emotional level. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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08/20/2021 this movie is one of this underrated masterpices. Of course not everyone will love it, but people that care about our planet will probably find it interesting and good. the movie is filled with the problems of our world hidden as the 2nd bottom that despite the brief presentation of the characters you will make you care about fate of characters. i highly recommend watching it. See more 05/02/2021 This movie's very impressive. And I wish I could see it on Netflix, Tubi, Pluto TV or Crackle. See more 01/25/2020 disturbing cartoon that didn't really seem to amount to anything and definitely not for kids See more 08/20/2019 This movie had a huge impact in my life See more 12/19/2018 The only drawback is the short runtime. The story, themes, simbolism, characters and animation feel unsettling but fresh and entertaining. I wish we would see more of this world. See more 09/03/2018 The last time I felt such optimism and admiration for animation and storytelling that you can never quite predict is when I watched Boy & the World (another brilliant movie).. Psiconautas/Birdboy was a lot darker than one would think given the animation and character designs. Tragic, breathtaking, haunting and delightful somehow all rolled into a pretty cover. One of the year's bests in terms of animation but you have to watch it willing to accept that a lot of things will be unusual. Highly recommended. See more Read all reviews
Birdboy: The Forgotten Children

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Movie Info

Synopsis Animal friends hatch a dangerous plan to escape from a post-apocalyptic island, and an outcast called Birdboy unleashes a secret power that could change the world forever.
Director
Alberto Vázquez, Pedro Rivero
Producer
Luis Tosar
Screenwriter
Alberto Vázquez, Pedro Rivero
Distributor
GKIDS
Production Co
ZircoZine, La Competencia Producciones, Basque Films, Abrakan Estudio
Genre
Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
Original Language
European Spanish
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 15, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 13, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$38.7K
Runtime
1h 16m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)