Bird: Movie Review

Cast: Barry Keoghan, Nykiya Adams, Franz Rogowski
Director: Andrea Arnold

Fish Tank director Andrea Arnold's latest outing to the council estates follows Barry Keoghan's heavily-tattooed Bug and his relationship with his daughter Bailey (a phenomenally assured performance from Nykiya Adams in her debut).

When Bug announces he's to marry new girlfriend Kayleigh, Bailey is shocked and runs off in frustration, sleeping in a field overnight. When she awakes she's met by a mysterious man who calls himself Bird (a soft-spoken Rogowski) who befriends her and who she decides to help as he hunts for his family.

A coming of age story that's tinged with fantastical elements, the occasionally disparate and threadbare narrative comes together solely through the performance of Adams, whose tenacious turn as the troubled 12 year old pretty much blows away Keoghan's energetic and frenetic acting.

Both Bug and Bailey are searching for something - albeit on differing paths. Bug just wants to be happy, and Bailey just wants to be accepted as she sits on the cusp of the teen years.

But Arnold's sensitive direction and lithe handling of life for those who slip through the cracks of society makes Bird a compellingly different proposition. Whereas Fish Tank had a more vibrant energy, there's a softer feeling to this as it plays out.

Granted, the idea that Bird is a surrogate father to Bailey is an obvious one, but Arnold switches the relationship around with Bailey finding a purpose of helping him in turn. Themes of rejection and alienation rise to the fire, as well as a need to find identity - and Arnold keeps the pot bubbling just enough to appeal to those who want to dive in.

Very occasionally, it feels like there's not quite enough emotive story to pull you in and that this is an on-the-cusp hangout movie with fantasy edges and a to-be-discussed meaning heavy ending, but it's never less than a singluar take on a very familiar tale.