From the start, Netflix has always been one of my favorite formats to watch either groundbreaking movies or exhilarating television. From such excellent story-driven TV shows the likes of Stranger Things, Daredevil, and Black Mirror, to filmmaking marvels such as Beasts Of No Nation, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, and current best picture nominee, ROMA, Netflix has really proven themselves to be a streaming network of quality above all else; however, just because they have made great art in the past doesn’t mean that they are free from making a few duds at the same time. Unfortunately, the film Bird Box is a prime example of the many disappointments that Netflix can produce just to get a few ratings.

While Bird Box isn’t one of the worst movies I’ve seen, it’s certainly one of the most forgettable. This is a movie that does the absolute bare minimum of what should be expected out of any movie; consisting of poor acting, incoherent writing, and bland filmmaking. Even though the concept of the film is interesting, the idea on its own is not enough to make an enjoyable movie unless you really put in the effort to make an engaging story and interesting characters to care about along the journey. At the end of the day, Bird Box simply has none of that.

One of the more crucial problems with Bird Box is the absolute wasted talent from every single actor here. Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, and even John Malkovich are all actors that have given emotional, raw, and dramatic performances in the past, yet it feels like they aren’t even trying to make their characters relatable or likable. Bad script writing could be the culprit; however, there was never a moment in this movie where I once felt emotion from any of their characters.

Another huge problem with this movie is the utter laziness of the filmmaking; from the bland cinematography, to the bad sound design, and often uninspired visuals, the final product was disappointing.

What’s even worse is that this movie inspired the so-called “Bird Box Challenge”. The “Bird Box Challenge” is when people do everyday activities, but use blindfolds just like in the movie and post clips of themselves. After hearing about this trending topic, I was just baffled and utterly confused why anyone would consider this a good challenge, let alone think Bird Box was a good enough movie to make a challenge out of.

At the end of the day, while this movie had tons of potential to be something good, it just wasn’t.