A children’s fable comes to life, Bird documents the adultification of young women tasked with keeping a broken world and broken family together in hopes of a future. 

In Southeast England, a 12-year-old girl ventures around alone until her chaotic father Bug picks her to scooter on the way home while dropping some major news about marriage. Their graffiti-covered squat will soon be inhabited by his new bride and two-year-old toddler. Startled by the recent news tossed at her like the purple cheetah unitard she is supposed to wear at the wedding, Bailey takes out her frustrations with a shaved head and follows a gang of young men. Her adventures take her to spend the night in a field where a kilted figure suddenly appears before her. Using her phone she records their interaction in case to capture something dangerous but he meets it with a twirling introduction. Revealing his name as Bird, who is trying to find his family with the bare minimum of information or ideas. 

Director Andrea Arnold’s films all contain the same thread of British social realism, putting the camera into the fringes of society not often captured for the screen. Bird follows suit except for adding a fantastical lens to make it magical surrealism in a classic coming-of-age. Mirroring a fairytale-like aura of an unknown figure coming to save a young girl who has been forced to enter adulthood leaving the realm of childhood not by her decision. For every moment of urban concrete, Arnold taps into the wild land of nature surrounding Bailey as moments of connecting and escaping her reality for something hopeful. 

Bailey’s rugged word has a softness to it, though her situation is devastating she is surrounded by naturalism telling her it’s going to be okay.  Not everything in Bailey’s world is pure nihilism and horror, the gangs of young men attack abusers and graffitied mantras of positivity pop up. Bailey captures a lot of her world through her cell phone, often replaying those moments to restore peace around her circumstances. Her connection to nature brings a present sense in how she sees the world regardless of the distraction of cell phones. She is an observer lost in her own world to escape the harsh realities of her class standing.

Injecting a mysterious man who has some aviation-esque qualities is a risky choice in the linear movement of this social drama, but with Bird and Bailey’s connection, it’s enlightening to watch. Nature serves as a rebirth for Bailey, getting to leave the pessimism she has grown accustomed to in an escape free of responsibility to just be a child for once in her life. She becomes more and more comfortable in her skin as she gets to tap into this unknown aspect of herself never given the room to develop. Free from her nonsensical father and the heartbreak of her mother’s abusive relationship, she just gets to be Bailey. Bird opens up her relationship to a world she closed off and was rejected from making space for her and for once she is put first. 

Shaking up the coming-of-age genre with this specific moment of a young woman’s life that all comes together when she finally gets her period. The sudden angst and violence filling out the chaos of her life build up to a moment where it all erupts as a stream of menstrual blood. As people experience their periods, those are times of the month when things become foggy and more potent with emotions leading the decision-making part of the brain. It is hard to tell what matters and what doesn’t when the body goes through this natural process racking up our emotions to dispel as we please. Her disorderly life follows that of entering puberty and once normal things get thrown out the door. Her sudden realization of self whether through insecurity or rebellion is projected onto Bird to ease her through this life change of confusion. 

Andrea Arnold’s Bird is supernatural poetry on the flow of consciousness through a young woman’s acceleration of adulthood and how it changes and shapes her worldview. 

Grade: B+

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Lead Actor (Franz Rogowski), Best Lead Actress (Nykiya Adams), Best Cinematography

Where to Watch: In Select Theaters