There are so many ways that a film can get under an audience’s skin, whether that be intentional or not, but beating the proverbial dead horse with a children’s bat is certainly not the way to get things going in your direction. Sure, at the end of the day the film is still uncomfortable and makes the audiences’ skin crawl, and if that is the goal, then goal achieved. But there needs to be more substance to make audiences fall in love with the final product. However, Jack Clark and Jim Weir certainly show promise both behind the camera and holding the pen itself as there’s some beauty in the direction and some genuine WTF moments in Birdeater, but this would’ve been a bone-chillingly uncomfortable 45 minute short instead of a nearly two hour film. To be clear, toxic masculinity is just that — toxic. However, giving this anxiety-inducing take without something truly shocking and despicable occurring by the end just leaves the film a little flat.
L-R: Shabana Azeez as Irene and Mackenzie Fearnley as Louie in BIRDEATER. Photo courtesy of Blue Finch Films.
Birdeater focuses around the bachelor party of Louie (Mackenzie Fearnley) before he takes the proverbial plunge with his partner Irene (Shabana Azeez). Seems simple enough, bachelor parties are pretty standard in the marriage realms, however not everything is as it seems. Irene has severe anxiety if she’s not around Louie, but this doesn’t seem to prevent Louie from being incredibly selfish and throwing himself a party anyways, inviting his friends Dylan (Ben Hunter), Charlie (Jack Bannister), Murph (Alfie Gledhill), and Sam (Harley Wilson), and Charlie’s girlfriend Grace (Clementine Anderson) to make Irene feel less awkward about being the only women at a bachelor party. As things slowly start to get underway, we discover that this is a group of guy’s guys, and by that I simply mean they’re problematic, have certain mindsets and worldviews, and it’s just very uncomfortable and unnerving throughout the entire process. Certain things get exposed throughout them rehashing the good ol’ days and getting up to old tricks and using a variety of heavy drugs. The issues are with the decisions, actions, and, ultimately, morals of these characters, but moreover with the ultimate fact that nothing truly horrific, minus one instance, really happens to any of them.
Considering Clark and Weir pulled double duty as writers and directors with their debut, the fact that they manage to create this tight, tense world and execute it so flawlessly is truly a masterful feat. Crafting a world that doesn’t rely on typical horror elements to make audiences feel so uncomfortable and uneasy isn’t easy, but they manage to create something so tense and awkward that some seasoned writers and directors would equally fail to create. However, like in all movies, writing and direction can only go so far if the cast cannot bring it together to help enhance the project. Fearnley (Dance Academy: The Movie), Azeez (Run Rabbit Run), Hunter, Bannister, Gledhill (1500 Steps), Wilson (Threshold), and Anderson all manage to come together and create the perfect ensemble from hell to bring this audience fully on board with their menacing weekend, leaving the audience simply squirming in their seats. While there isn’t anything more than meets the eye with Birdeater, it highlights that this mindset exists in todays world, still, and exemplifies that, as a society, we have to acknowledge this is truly apprehensible and vile.
L-R: Shabana Azeez as Irene and Mackenzie Fearnley as Louie in BIRDEATER. Photo courtesy of Blue Finch Films.
While Birdeater is certainly terrifying and horrifying as it is a reality that exists, as a nearly two-hour feature, there is still a little bit left for the audience to hope to discover. Sitting with these awful despicable people for 113 minutes is as uneasy as it is uncomfortable, but, ultimately, we want something to happen to these characters that just doesn’t. Weir and Clark deliver a very promising debut, with a cast that excels, but ultimately doesn’t deliver fully on the promise of sheer and brutal chaos. While the audience squirms and feels uneasy throughout the feature, the feeling leaves much too quickly as it ends, not lingering in the audiences’ minds as much as it ultimately should.
Screening during The Overlook Film Festival 2024.
In theaters January 10th, 2025.
Final Score: 3 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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