Bailey lives with her brother Hunter and her father Bug, who raises them alone in a squat in northern Kent. Bug doesn't have much time to devote to them. Bailey looks for attention and adventure elsewhere.
Content Advisory: Abuse, Animal cruelty or animal death, Substance abuse or alcoholism
A 12-year-old Kent girl befriends an odd drifter in Bird. Bailey (Nykiya Adams) is a tomboyish 12-year-old living in Gravesend, North Kent with her chaotic father Bug (Barry Keoghan) and wayward brother Hunter (Jason Buda). As Bug is distracted by his upcoming wedding, Bailey meets Bird (Franz Rogowski), a mysterious man looking for his family. Bailey takes it upon herself to help Bird with his search and he ends up helping her in return.
Bird Synopsis
Bird is a coming-of-age drama written and directed by Andrea Arnold (American Honey). The film stars newcomer Nykiya Adams as Bailey, the 12-year-old protagonist. Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) co-stars as Bailey’s heavily tattooed father Bug, who’s currently occupied with practicing a Blur song for his wedding and selling the hallucinogenic slime from a toad. In addition, Bailey’s mother Peyton (Jasmine Jobson) has a new lover who is incredibly abusive to Bailey’s mother and siblings.
One day Bailey meets the mysterious stranger Bird, played by Franz Rogowski (Passages, Freaks vs the Reich). Bird is an odd man, who looks for his long-lost family during the day and stands on the roof of a building neighbouring Bailey’s at night. Bailey ends up helping Bird with his search and the experience will transform her fractured home life.
My Thoughts on Bird
On the surface, Bird is a story about 12-year-old Bailey coming of age surrounded by a rough and fractured home life. Her heavily tattooed father Bug has a fit when Bailey suddenly cuts her hair short since he believes it wouldn’t make her fit to be a bridesmaid at his wedding, even though she doesn’t want to be one. However, life with Bug is better for Bailey than with her mother Peyton, who is now in an abusive relationship. The family drama of Bird is rounded out by Bailey’s brother Hunter being distraught when he is kept away from his pregnant girlfriend.
More interesting than Bailey’s fractured home life is the friendship she develops with the titular Bird. Franz Rogowski portrays Bird as a slow and somewhat autistic man, who is looking for the family he was separated from. When things get dire in Bailey’s home life, it is Bird who ends up returning the help she has given him.
Without spoiling too much, I have to say that it’s interesting that while Bird is played out as a relatively serious drama for much of its running time, Andrea Arnold decides to add some fantastical elements towards the end of the film. These elements would probably make or break the film for most viewers, as they can easily take people out of the story. They also leave the events of the film open to interpretation.
I also have to make mention of the role music plays in Bird. A recurring element of the film sees Bug practicing dancing to the song “The Universal” by Blur, which he plans to make his wedding song, with there even being a cheeky comment about “Murder on the Dance Floor” being a terrible song, given the viral resurgence it had after being featured in last year’s Saltburn. That said, it makes me feel old that a late-film record drop of the 1997 hit “Lucky Man” by The Verve is described as “dad music.”
Altogether, Bird is an interesting coming-of-age drama, with a solid debut performance by Nykiya Adams. However, the mixing of some fantastical elements into the plot might make or break some viewers. That and the fact that Barry Keoghan isn’t exactly that convincing as a tattooed hoodlum.