Just when you thought Netflix had nailed 2018, they go and drop Bird Box, which has turned out to be their biggest success this year.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
The general gist of the film is based around this mysterious force that leads people into killing themselves should they see it with the naked eye.
That leaves everyone navigating this dystopian landscape blindfolded or facing a grizzly self-inflicted end.
Only we never actually see what this force looks like, it’s just kind of portrayed by a gust of wind.
Well the director of the movie, Susanne Bier has revealed there was some pretty good reasoning behind the decision to keep the mysterious creatures invisible.
In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Bier explained how illustrating everyone’s deepest fears with a “concrete shape” would render it “almost meaningless”.
Bird Box screenwriter Eric Heisserer also explained: “There was a time when one of the producers was like, ‘No, you have to see something at some point’ and forced me to write essentially a nightmare sequence where Malorie [played by Sandra Bullock] experiences one in that house.”
When Bullock described the finished creature she said it was “snake-like” and a “long fat baby” when reflecting on its appearance, claiming that it was “a green man with a horrific baby face”.
Bier added: “It so easily becomes funny. We actually shot that and spent a lot of energy on it, but every time I saw it, I was like ‘This is not going to be tense, it’s just going to be funny’.
“At first, Sandy was like, ‘I don’t want to see it’ because she thought it was scary. Then it was like, ‘Don’t show it to me because [I’ll laugh].’ Every time I did it, I was like, ‘Shit, that’s a different film’.”
Bier explained further that it would be difficult due to everyone’s fears being different. “Whatever those beings are, they tap into your deepest fear. Everybody’s deepest fear is going to be different from the other person.”
“I think to suddenly take upon a concrete shape in order to illustrate that becomes weak. Where the conceit is really strong, then trying to illustrate it is kind of almost meaningless. So it would have been the wrong decision.”
Featured image: Netflix