Contents
The horror thriller starring Sandra Bullock exploited a similar theme as A Quiet Place of the same year (you can’t watch in one, make noise in the second), but it was presented in a completely different way.
Creatures that cannot be looked at are not the main thing in the film. The personal drama of the main character and the relationship of the characters play a much larger role.
Unfortunately, there are very few such films, but we still managed to put together a list of 10 films similar to Bird Box.
Post-apocalypse and human attempts to survive in an unfriendly world are the central theme of the plot of each of them.
10 I Am Legend (2007)
The film adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel of the same name with Will Smith in the title role turned out to be controversial from the point of view of fans of the book, since the moral of the novel was not fully revealed in the film.
Nevertheless, the tape turned out to be successful: 585 million dollars in fees (the budget was 150), the Saturn Award for Smith and the fans’ dreams of a sequel. Rumors about his filming have been circulating since 2008, but now we can safely say that the reboot will most likely be filmed. “I’m legend”than a direct sequel.
9. 28 days later (2002)
The protagonist of the picture comes to his senses in an empty hospital, which looks abandoned. No staff, no other patients. Going out into the street, he discovers that the city is in the same state. Understanding what happened and surviving is the primary task of the characters in the film. “28 days later”.
The first part, filmed by Danny Boyle, turned out to be successful in every sense, but the continuation still had to wait for 5 whole years, and the sequel “28 Weeks Later” was shot by another director (Boyle took over as producer).
Not so long ago it became known that Boyle plans to shoot the third part, and the script for the authorship of Alex Garland (author of “28 Days Later”) is almost ready.
8. Breathe in the dark (2018)
The main characters of the thriller “Breathe in the dark” – a married couple raising a terminally ill daughter. The already unsweetened situation is aggravated after a strange fog descends on Paris, where the family lives. It kills all living things, so the heroes try to escape on the roof, but gradually realize that they still have to go down.
The French-Canadian film with Olga Kurylenko is not replete with action scenes or expensive special effects, but it perfectly conveys the desperation of people who find themselves in a hopeless situation.
7. Extinction (2015)
At the center of the movie “Extinction” (other name “Welcome to Harmony”) 3 people: Patrick, Jack and his daughter Lou.
The men used to be friends, but the death of Jack’s wife brought discord into their relationship and they shun each other. They live in the town of Harmony, which has been empty for 7 years now due to a terrible epidemic that has hit the world.
The permanent enmity of former friends fades into the background after bloodthirsty and deadly mutants begin to appear in the city.
The picture was shot by the Spanish director Miguel Vivas, spending only $7 million, which is not much money for the post-apocalyptic genre. The scenery, however, turned out to be quite convincing, and the overall story convincingly conveys the sense of hopelessness of the characters.
6. Doomsday (2011)
If all previous films were primarily thrillers, then “Judgment Day” directed by Douglas Aarniakoski is an action movie that tries to keep the tension like a thriller. It was presented at the Toronto Film Festival to mixed reviews from critics and the public.
The plot in brief is as follows: a group of five people are looking for a safe place in the world, which was destroyed by the apocalypse 10 years ago (it is not known which one). Initially, there were 12 people, but seven died during the wanderings.
Cannibals are the main danger that threatens the survivors. Having found a seemingly safe farm and decided to spend the night there, they did not even imagine that they had fallen into the trap of cannibals.
Those who do not die on the first evening will have to defend themselves in the house from the raids of the enemy who wants to taste their flesh.
5. Haze (2007)
Thriller “Mist”, based on Stephen King’s novel “The Fog”, is one of the best adaptations of books by this writer. Perhaps the film would have suffered a different fate and it would not have become a cult film if it had been directed by someone other than Frank Darabont. The director had previously transferred the novels The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile to the screen, so he knew better than anyone how to handle the original source.
It turned out exactly as it should be: throughout the film, the viewer sits in suspense, worrying about the characters, hoping for a happy ending and dropping his jaw on the floor in the finale.
At the first viewing, the ending is so striking that after it other “heavy” films are not impressive at all.
4. Mobile phone (2016)
Todd Williams, unlike Darabont, did not have such experience with King’s works, but he still shot well “Mobile phone”. In part, the director was lucky: Stephen King, the author of the original source, agreed to work on the script. Otherwise, the result might have been different. Also lucky with the actors: John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson in the lead roles – an important component of success.
The cause of the apocalypse here was not a virus, but a cell phone ringing. The heroes have to get to a safe place where there is no mobile connection, while simultaneously finding the wife and son of one of them.
This journey will not be easy: at every step, danger awaits them in the form of infected people. In addition, all healthy people have strange dreams with the same mysterious person.
3. 2016: End of the night (2011)
Director Tim Felbaum in 2011 imagined the bleak future that awaits humanity in 2016. The sun increased in size and turned the Earth into a hot desert, and water became the most valuable resource.
Life on the planet has not disappeared, although the usual states have ceased to exist. A group of people decided to go to the mountains in search of water, hoping to find a safe haven there at the same time, but when they get there, they realize that they were not the only ones who came up with such an idea.
Not the most famous director, the actors are also not among the stars, but the film “2016: end of the night” it didn’t make it bad. Perhaps this is the merit of Roland Emmerich, who acted as a producer.
2. Last Hours (2013)
The whole planet is immersed in chaos: the end of the world has come. Billions of people are dying around the world, and only Australia has a 20-hour head start until the catastrophe covers it too.
James is a badass guy who loves noisy parties most of all, and finally decides how to break away and go out so that he would not feel sorry for dying. his plans are disrupted by a meeting with a little girl who is lost in the chaos.
Despite all his frivolity, the hero of the film “Last Hours” puts the interests of someone else’s child above his own and devotes the last hours of his life to helping her, and not to entertainment.
1. Quiet Place (2018)
Let’s end with a movie “Quiet place”, which we already mentioned at the beginning of the article. This thriller was a real discovery in 2018, earning over $340 million at the global box office on a budget of $17 million.
Emily Blunt and John Krasinski made an excellent screen couple, with the latter acting as director and screenwriter as well.
The sequel is now in production, so we’ll still have the opportunity to return to a world filled with blind monsters that react to sounds.