Netflix’s #1 Thriller Of All Time Now Has A Sequel
Get your popcorn and your blindfolds ready, because Bird Box: Barcelona is now streaming on Netflix. The sci-fi horror film is the highly anticipated new movie based on the #1 Netflix thriller of all time, Bird Box (2018). Much like the original film, Bird Box: Barcelona is a non-stop thrill ride filled with horror, suspense, and drama, but no Sandra Bullock.
Bird Box: Barcelona, the followup to the Sandra Bullock original, is now streaming on Netflix.
In the first Bird Box, Sandra Bullock plays Malorie, a mother of two who tries to protect herself and her children as the world descends into chaos around them.
A mysterious force causes people to violently take their own lives, and the only way to avoid the same fate is to blindfold yourself so that you don’t also get infected. This led Malorie and her children to wear blindfolds throughout the film, inciting plenty of real-life memes and parodies across social media when it was first released.
Now, the mysterious force is back and taking over the most beautiful city in Spain during Bird Box: Barcelona.
In the new film, a father (Sebastián), his daughter, and several others must try and survive the same horrors that Sandra Bullock went through in the first film, but with an added threat. There are now men roaming the streets of Barcelona who want the world to see the evil creatures that have been created.
The new film promises plenty more blindfolds, though Sebastián rocks a steam-punk pair of goggles that allow him to see without being infected by the creatures.
After the incredible success of 2018’s Bird Box, Netflix, and the film’s producers had the idea to create a Bird Box Universe that would expand the post-apocalyptic catastrophe throughout other parts of the world.
When directors/brothers David Pastor and Alex Pastor (who are both Barcelona natives) heard this idea, they pitched the story for Bird Box: Barcelona to take place in their own backyard. The brothers got the green light and were allowed plenty of freedom and creative liberty to develop their own movie within the Bird Box Universe.
While the first Bird Box film featured a well-known American cast that included Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich, and Colson Baker (better known as Machine Gun Kelly), Bird Box: Barcelona features several Spanish and European actors who are up-and-coming.
After the incredible success of 2018’s Bird Box, Netflix, and the film’s producers had the idea to create a Bird Box Universe that would expand the post-apocalyptic catastrophe throughout other parts of the world.
Mario Casas, who plays the lead role of Sebastián, has been in quite a few Spanish films, like Three Steps Above Heaven, The Bar, and Cross the Line, but this is his first lead role in a film from an American company. British actress Georgiana Campbell, who plays the role of Claire, is best known for her role as Tess in last year’s mystery horror film Barbarian.
Diego Calva, who plays Octavio, is a young actor from Mexico City who has been in several Latino films, including I Promise You Anarchy and The American Way, and he recently landed the role of Manny Torres alongside Margot Robbie in Babylon.
Bird Box: Barcelona was released on Netflix on July 14, 2023, and it is currently the #3 thriller on the streaming platform. It also has a 5.3 out of 10 rating on IMDb, 51 percent on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, and a 45 out of 100 rating on Metacritic.
The film is getting some mixed reviews from critics and viewers who may or may not understand that it is not a direct continuation of the first movie.
Bird Box: Barcelona doesn’t answer any of the lingering questions from the first movie, but it helps expand the world of the first film.
Some viewers were looking for answers to lingering questions from the first Bird Box, like what is it that caused everyone to go crazy and kill themselves? What do people see that drives them mad? Did Sandra Bullock’s character survive after getting to the castle?
If you are also looking for these answers in Bird Box: Barcelona, you won’t find them here.
And while it’s hard for Bird Box: Barcelona to compete with its predecessor, which got over 10 million views in its first three days on Netflix, it is exciting that this film opens the door for other Bird Box Universe films to pop up all over the world.
Watch Bird Box: Barcelona on Netflix for yourself to see how the Pastor brothers did. And remember that it takes place in Spain, so much of the movie is in Spanish, but there is some English.
