If you've been online for more than two minutes, I'm sure you've heard about "Bird Box," the paranormal suspense film released on Netflix in December of 2018. The film is an adaptation of Josh Malerman's best-selling 2014 novel of the same name, and it follows a mother named Malorie trying to navigate a world where an unknown creature is causing humans to go insane...just by being seen.
It's certainly been a polarizing movie, with many people loving it, and others absolutely despising it. If you're one of the people who liked "Bird Box," though, you may be looking for some more movies to watch. Here's a list of 5 movies with similar vibes, plot points, etc. to "Bird Box."
1. "Hold the Dark"
https://www.netflix.com/watch/80157072?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2C49446ea8233bb3182d60c8e53ba972a1c0c14dda%3Acb1d95c1375555aec55861cb82790f2c87b87e75%2C%2C
I'll begin the list with the movie that has the least-overt similarities to "Bird Box." "Hold the Dark" is another Netflix original film, and like "Bird Box," it has heavy nature imagery and subliminal paranormal themes. Also, much like a lot of the other films I'm about to mention, this movie's main plot is driven by the idea of doing what's right by a child, and calls a lot into question about what blurs the lines between the monsters and humanity.
2. "The Road"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/mediaviewer/rm934120960
This post-apocalyptic movie is similar to "Bird Box" in a couple of ways. First, that it's super dark. Sure, most movies dealing with the apocalypse are, to an extent, but similarly to "Bird Box" the darkness just never seems to take a break in this film. Another similarity between the two films is that they're both about parents struggling to keep their children safe against all odds. That's the driving force for both Malorie ("Bird Box") and Man ("The Road").
Another bonus similarity is that they're both film adaptations of well-known novels, and the children in both are called only by their sex, as opposed to names (although, personally, I feel as though Josh Malerman's choice in naming the children "boy" and "girl" in his novel was in homage to Cormac McCarthy.)
3. "It Comes at Night"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YOYHCBQn9g
Not only is "It Comes at Night" another apocalyptic movie, but it also features a major similarity to "Bird Box" in the way that it portrays different families having to live together to ride out disaster. The disaster, in both movies, being a monster that, in the end, takes a few victims along the way.
4. "A Quiet Place"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR7cc5t7tv8
As soon as "Bird Box" dropped, people began to compare it to this 2018 release. Like "Bird Box," "A Quiet Place" features monsters that affect one of our senses; this time, instead of prohibiting us from seeing, these invaders prevent humans from making any sound. Out of all the films mentioned, it's likely the best movie to compare to "Bird Box," not only because of the aforementioned loss of senses but also because both movies heavily involve children as a driving force for the older characters (and both feature pregnant protagonists).
5. "It Follows"
https://www.netflix.com/watch/80013607?trackId=14277281&tctx=0%2C0%2Cb6422e8f-5d41-4d62-b703-a0bd98355876-56782438%2C%2C
Lastly, we have "It Follows," another horror film that heavily involves a monster you can't really see. Instead, much like "Bird Box," the issue is how this monster (of sorts) affects the humans around it. In "Bird Box," it punishes people for looking at it, but in "It Follows" it punishes people for their sexual encounters (seeming kind of like an std, of sorts). In both movies, these creatures will kill you if you encounter them, and in both films, we see characters meet their grisly ends at the hands of the monsters.
While "Bird Box" may be a pretty unique tale, there are still plenty of movies that have similarities to this new release. Whether it be the plotline you enjoyed or the dark atmosphere, these 5 movies will definitely help you get over that need-for-more that "Bird Box" leaves you with.