Bird

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1:41

Bird

R

2024

1h 59m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

139 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

The long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking from Academy Award-winner Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Fish Tank), BIRD is a tender, striking and extraordinarily surprising coming-of-age fable about marginalized life in the fringes of contemporary society. 12-year-old Bailey (astounding newcomer Nykiya Adams) lives with her devoted but chaotic single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan, Saltburn) and wayward brother Hunter in a squat in Gravesend, north Kent. Approaching puberty and seeking attention and adventure, Bailey's fractured home life is transformed when she encounters Bird (Franz Rogowski, Passages), a mysterious stranger on a journey of his own. A wondrous portrait of the transition from childhood to adolescence that remains grounded in her typically empathetic social realism, Arnold's latest strides to the wildly poetic rhythm of her own drum.

Critics Consensus

Director Andrea Arnold strikes a coming-of-age chord through Nykiya Adams' moving performance, marrying fantasy and reality to the dizzying end.

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Ela Bittencourt

Sight & Sound

Dec 31

Newcomer Nykiya Adams triumphs as Bailey, commingling edginess, tenderness, and introspection; so do Barry Keoghan, whose Bug is as big-hearted and droll as he is hapless, and Rogowski, who delivers Bird’s stoic poise with a wispy softness.

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Wenlei Ma

The Nightly (AU)

03/01/2025

3/5

Bird frequently feels as if we’re in an extended vignette where we’re tagging along for a ride with no beginning, middle or end.

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Stephen Romei

The Australian

02/21/2025

3.5/5

This film is an interesting shift for the director in that it adds magical realism to the social realism that underpins previous works such as Fish Tank (2009) and American Honey (2016).

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Mel Campbell

ScreenHub

Dec 29

I’m still exhilarated by how deftly Arnold infuses her trademark social realism with ancient, wild magic. … It’s atavistically satisfying: the wondrous opposite of folk horror.

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Nicolás Medina

Peliplat

Dec 4

8/10

Bird is a film that does not promise answers, that does not seek comfort, and yet it lodges itself in the viewer's mind like a persistent buzzing. [Full review in Spanish]

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Ernesto Diezmartinez

Letras Libres

Oct 22

374

"In her latest film, Andrea Arnold creates a narrative universe in which the harsh world of a teenage girl merges with the fantastic". [Full review in Spanish]

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Elsie M

11/19/2024

Another great Andrea Arnold film. This definitely needs time to process after watching it.

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James

11/18/2024

This is a remarkable movie. It ranges from a level of realism that will make you a little uncomfortable to outright magic, and the acting is uniformly superb. No summary could do it justice, just see it.

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Edith

11/17/2024

Very boring. I walked out of the theater

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Shannon P

11/15/2024

Gritty view of life, with some fantasy as well. Interesting film good job by actors

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Joyce H

11/08/2024

All the performances were Grade A. Keoghan & Rogowski at their best.

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Vince Q.

@Vincedeq Oct 31

This UK coming-of-age cinema verité features a well-crafted Barry Keoghan performance, eclipsed only by the performance of the young Nykiyah Adams, who plays Bailey perfectly. This film is refreshing in its celebration of eccentricity. Two thumbs up.

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Bird: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

The long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking from Academy Award-winner Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Fish Tank), BIRD is a tender, striking and extraordinarily surprising coming-of-age fable about marginalized life in the fringes of contemporary society. 12-year-old Bailey (astounding newcomer Nykiya Adams) lives with her devoted but chaotic single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan, Saltburn) and wayward brother Hunter in a squat in Gravesend, north Kent. Approaching puberty and seeking attention and adventure, Bailey's fractured home life is transformed when she encounters Bird (Franz Rogowski, Passages), a mysterious stranger on a journey of his own. A wondrous portrait of the transition from childhood to adolescence that remains grounded in her typically empathetic social realism, Arnold's latest strides to the wildly poetic rhythm of her own drum.

Director: Andrea Arnold
Producer: Lee Groombridge, Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross
Screenwriter: Andrea Arnold
Distributor: MUBI
Production Co: Pinky Promise, arte France Cinéma, FirstGen Content, BBC Films, Access Entertainment, British Film Institute, Ad Vitam, House Productions
Rating: R (Language Throughout|Drug Material|Some Violent Content)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 8, 2024, Limited
Runtime: 1h 59m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital