As one of the most hyped films of 2018, Bird Box ultimately left a lot to be desired, despite having some pretty big names in Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich. While Bullock gave a quality performance, as expected, it wasn’t really enough to save the lackadaisical attempt at terrifying audiences. It wasn’t the worst horror movie that you’ve ever seen, but started a social media craze that essentially took the world by storm for a few months. After that, the movie was begging to be seen. With hype like that, though, it has to at least deliver — and Bird Box did not.
With a certified A-lister as the top-billed star and source material that was acclaimed as it was terrifying, Bird Box was destined to be a surefire critical and commercial hit. While it did hit its mark in the latter, it wasn’t much of an artistically riveting picture and lacked success in the latter. Despite this, John Malkovich’s performance as the pessimistic Douglas acts as its lone bright spot. He is a character that you hate to love, and the man you cannot bring yourself to admit is right all along.
What Is ‘Bird Box’ About?
Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock) is pregnant and in the midst of something that’s currently shaking the entire world. One by one, people are committing mass suicides due to an unseen entity. It is as if they are being forced to take their own lives once they lay eyes on the mysterious figures. She experiences this firsthand when her sister Jessica (Sarah Paulson) is suddenly possessed, and their car crashes. Malorie survives, but her sister steps in front of a truck, effectively ending her own existence. As she struggles to get on her feet, a passerby named Tom (Trevante Rhodes) helps her, and they enter a house filled with survivors. While everyone sympathizes with the two additional members of their group, Douglas (John Malkovich) isn’t too pleased, and he isn’t shy to show his emotions. After all, his wife went to save the pair and paid the price. She was taken by the entities too, and entered a burning car, presumably to her death.
As the film progresses, Douglas begins to get more and more agitated. He shows utter disgust at Charlie (Milton “Lil Rel” Howery Jr.) for opening up that he’s working on a novel. He antagonizes Malorie for being “wasteful” with food, even though she needed to eat more because of her being pregnant. He downright refuses to let anyone enter the premises, regardless of their condition, as he emphasizes when they let another pregnant woman in Olympia (Danielle Macdonald) take shelter in the house.
He does not approve of Greg’s (BD Wong) idea of viewing the entities through his house’s CCTV system. When Greg dies as a result of the idea, he nonchalantly repeats that he told them so. However, things unravel when Olympia, perhaps out of sympathy, allows a stranger, Gary (Tom Hollander), into the house. Douglas mercilessly berates her for being a simpleton but is proven correct when they discover that Gary is not a normal human being. He is at the mercy of the entities and forces everyone to open all of their eyes towards the unseen danger. Unfortunately for them, they have already taken Douglas out of the picture when they knocked him out and locked him in a separate room for threatening Gary to leave.
What Makes John Malkovich’s ‘Bird Box’ Character So Great?
In a post-apocalyptic situation, one might see Douglas as the epitome of doing the right thing, regardless of what it may entail. The right thing, in this case, is represented by the pragmatic nature of truth. If it works, don’t fix it. If you do, bigger problems may arise and ultimately destroy the foundations you have built. Take his points into consideration. In a predicament like this, the limited resources they have should only be reserved for a few people, and treating their house like an orphanage is counterproductive.
Douglas was correct in not agreeing with Greg in attempting to look at the creatures virtually. He was right in assuming that there was something fishy about Gary surviving several days outside. He reads through his lies, and he listened to his own gut. There are several questions and discussions one can have about ethics and morals, supported by several paradigm cases in various different circumstances. Nevertheless, the world is cruel, and at a time when survival is paramount, cruelty is perhaps one’s best bet at survival.
It is also an unfair assessment to brand Douglas as a grumpy old man who basically irked everyone in his way to survive. He had a soft side, confirming that he was only doing what he can to live as long as he can. One particular instance is when he speaks to Malorie in the kitchen. Here, he unfolds a kind of self-awareness, wherein he divulges all of his faults through the experiences of his ex-wives. He wasn’t the nicest man alive, but he certainly knew it. He is the movie’s human spirit, all of which was arguably sucked out the moment he perished. Douglas wanted to save himself, but the lack of hardened might of his comrades had blown up his chances.
Why Is John Malkovich’s Douglas the Best Part of ‘Bird Box’?
Taking all the nuances of his fine performance, John Malkovich saves this film from becoming truly irredeemable. Bird Box, was immensely criticized for the lackluster thrills compared to the novel, and its flimsy writing, among others. With a seasoned actor like John Malkovich portraying a role he was born to play, it acts as something that audiences could take home with them after viewing the disappointing feature. He lends a certain gravitas that legitimizes the movie, and with how its presented, needed every single bit of credibility in its storytelling.
Make no mistake, Douglas was no Mitch Leary in In The Line of Fire, nor was it anything like Cyrus The Virus in Con Air. Nonetheless, John managed to muster enough Malkovich to be the saving grace of a film that was definitely less than stellar.
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