Time also flies on the big screen.
It seems like only yesterday that Barry Keoghan was the rookie learning his craft - now he's the veteran bringing out the best in his young(er) co-star. Make no mistake, although Keoghan and Franz Rogowski (Passages) are the names in Bird, it's teenager Nykiya Adams's movie.
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She plays Bailey, a 12-year-old effectively bringing herself up while she lives with her wastrel father, Bug (Keoghan), in a Gravesend flat. Bug has just announced that he's getting married next Saturday to a girl he has known for three months. Bailey is reeling - and in no mood to be the bridesmaid for someone she has just met.
Amidst all this upheaval, she encounters Bird (Rogowski), a strange-but-endearing outsider, and a bond quickly forms between the two watchers of the world.
This latest slice of life on the margins from Oscar-winning writer-director Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Red Road) has much to recommend it: first and foremost Adams's performance as Bailey; then the work of her co-stars, the cinematography of Arnold's longtime Irish collaborator Robbie Ryan, and Arnold's eye for both societal malaise and moments of beauty amidst the chaos. Bird is two hours long but surprisingly never feels like it, and given the characters involved, you really don't know what is going to happen next.
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When Bird takes a big turn in the closing stages, it will elicit one of three responses from the viewer: a) I'm into it b) alright then c) ah here. No further spoilers - you'll have to go to decide.
If you've enjoyed the likes of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Heavy, and Sling Blade in the past, then Bird is definitely one to see, a story of finding your path in life from a director who always goes her own way. Wise old soul Arnold and youngster Adams should work together again without a doubt, and there's also a film just waiting to be made with another newcomer here - Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson. He gets one scene in Bird and is brilliant. Movie Gods, please reunite him, Adams, and Arnold in the near future.
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