Bird

This is an excellent coming-of-age story, reminiscent of "Wild Diamond" but, in my opinion, executed even better. We follow the life of Bailey, a 12-year-old girl living in the depleded areas of the UK. From the outset, it's clear that Bailey perceives the world differently from those around her. Nature, animals, and especially birds, symbolize freedom and lightness, a sensation that comes across vividly.

Bailey meets Bird, a character who embodies the person she aspires to become. Initially, she mocks Bird, but by the end, her ridicule transforms into admiration. Bailey faces numerous challenges, and Bird subtly guides her toward resolution. Some questions remain unanswered, but for me, the specific answers are unimportant. The journey and the growth Bailey experiences are what truly matter.

Is it a bird?

Yes.

Well that's that joke knackered then.

Andrea Arnold turns her directorial hand back to fiction filmmaking for the first time since 2016's excellent American Honey.

Bird follows Bailey (Nykiya Adams), a 12 year old girl growing up in a deprived area somewhere in England. Her dad 'Bug' (Barry Keoghan) is seemingly more concerned with his own life than that of his two children. This means Bailey and her older brother Hunter (Jason Buda) are for the most part left to their own devices. Hunter is part of a gang but Bailey is yet to find a friend that she truly connects with. That is until she meets Bird, a young man who's searching for his parents. They take solace in each-others family struggles and seek to help one another to resolve their family issues.

A lot of films that represent working class British life tend to show that despite not being financially well off, it is their family dynamics and by pulling together that keep each-other going. In Bird however family is the problem at the centre of the narrative. Whether it's Baileys dad being preoccupied with his new family or Birds lack of any family whatever-so-ever, they both find themselves alone. Alone in a scarily accurate world of deprivation where connection is essential for survival.

I'm trying hard not to spoil anything as there's so many plot ends going on that it would be easily done. Each of those plot points however blends seamlessly with the next keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat right from the start.

Barry Keoghan turned down Gladiator 2 to be in this film and without a doubt he made the right decision. Andrea Arnold has yet again crafted a depressing and yet hopeful look at a reality many people live through daily.

There are two lovely performances to enjoy in this story of the twelve year old "Bailey" (Nykiya Adams). She lives in a squat with her dad "Bug" (Barry Keoghan), brother "Hunter" (Jason Buda) and her soon-to-be stepmum "Kayleigh" (Frankie Box). It's that impending wedding, and the wearing of a pretty garish pink cat-suit, that puts her at odds with her well-meaning dad and sees her left to amuse herself amidst the fields of Kent. It's there that she encounters the rather enigmatic "Bird" (Franz Rogowski) who is looking for his parents who lived in a Gravesend tower block near her home. She decides to try and help this rather quirky chap and quickly their lives become curiously linked as we discover that her mother (Jasmine Jobson) is struggling through an abusive relationship with boyfriend "Skate" (James Nelson-Joyce) whilst also trying to bring up three youngsters. With the quest for her new friend's parents, her desire to help her mum and siblings and her dad's pressure to engage with his own hopes for happiness, the young "Bailey" hasn't her challenges to seek. Keoghan features energetically as he zips around the housing estates on his e-scooter, and his character serves well to help keep the main characterisations going - and it's on that front there's a charmingly understated chemistry developed between Adams and Rogowski that mixes their respective back-stories with a soupçon of the mystic and plenty of allegorical imagery to introduce quite elusive themes of freedom, family and quite frequently fun, too. There are also some fairly violent undertones, and we are left in no doubt that her life and that of her family has been and will remain fairly turbulent - but those points are not brought to us via a sledge-hammer, more by gentle observation and development of engaging personalities that evolve gently but potently over a couple of hours. It's a slow burn, but it works.

Enjoyed Bird, some very strong performances. Inclusion of the edges of the frame added a nice touch to a very honest telling of the story through naturalistic imagery. It's a very musical film and as always good choices for the soundtrack. I would say it could be tighter in the edit and feels overly whimsical at points, but the magical realism element was an interesting and unexpected development. The film felt real throughout and the details of production design helped with that intensely. Every element felt of the film felt real and honest. My only criticism is it could have been told in an hour.

But overall, a return to the much loved Andrea Arnold of old with a new twist.

Bird is a 2024 coming of age drama following Bailey, a 12 year old girl who lives in a very poor environment around Kent and spends most of her time escaping into the depths of the city and recording events on her phone that mean something to her. However, her father Bug (Barry Keoghan) expects his daughter to attend a wedding with another woman, then after Bailey runs away she comes across a mysterious man named Bird (Franz Rogowski) that then resorts to a powerful story about friendship and family all in poverty.

Of course this is a very well made film, and it didn't seem it needed much budget to do so with it's breakout performances from a new generation of actors. But this film is definitely not for everyone as the whole entirety of it's runtime does consist of exploring these types of dangerous environments and the positives surrounding it. I think it definitely did it's job to convey a thoughtful message with stand out performances that really do make a impact and I can respect it for that.

However, my personal opinion, I really dislike the characters and I mean yeah they're accurate but I literally see people like this every day and I cannot really forgive the actions most of the people do in this movie. While some scenes with them are very funny, I can't really resonate or make peace of what some of the characters do in this film, and I hated Bug's character too definitely a annoying but realistic portrayal of people and fathers like him. But the acting is very good though, my favourite character Bird doesn't really have a lot of lines, however he doesn't need to. Also I would most certainly not encourage little children to talk to and follow a random stranger, but Bird is an escapism for these kids and isn't what you think he is.

Overall, I would never watch this again, I don't think this is a film to be seen in the big screen it's more of a one to watch at home. Bird does have decent performances, humour and great scenes but I did not like most of the characters even Bailey was annoying but I think that's the point though, to show that people like them are real and actually live like this so I think that's a good message but don't watch this in the cinema, I just don't think it's that captivating to be honest and also the runtime could be adjusted as I think it carried on a tad too long, but I wouldn't recommend to be in a rush to see this one.

Grade: B

London Film Festival 20th October.