Bird: Intriguing and vibrant, Andrea Arnold at her best [critique]

For the first time, the filmmaker adds fantasy to her social cinema and paints the portrait of a 12-year-old girl in search of a better future.

Bailey is 12 years old and lives in a squat with his brother and father. The latter is preparing to remarry and intends to make his fortune… thanks to a toad who spits out hallucinogenic slime when he hears Yellow by Coldplay! Bailey could be the little sister of the heroine of Fish tankthe film that revealed Andrea Arnold 15 years ago. Because like the great filmmakers, she basically only plows a furrow, this social cinema where she excels through her ability to direct young talents (the flamboyant Nykia Adams), to become one with her heroines but also through her way of not never confine his story to the sordid, as evidenced by the subtle treatment of the father, never overwhelmed and brilliantly portrayed by Barry Keoghan. It is therefore the movement which characterizes the cinema of Andrea Arnold and particularly this film. Once the situation is established, the filmmaker accompanies this child who, as puberty approaches, seeks to escape social and family determinism. First alone then accompanied by an enigmatic character who tumbles into her life. The Bird of the title, similar to an angel who fell from the sky or a superhero who has lost his superpowers. Imaginary or real friend? In any case, it is precisely thanks to him… that Bird takes off, as Andrea Arnold leaves her comfort zone to venture for the first time, not without mastery, into the realm of the fantastic. And this intriguing journey would not have been the same without Bird's interpreter, Franz Rogowski, his freedom of play, the poetry which surrounds each of his gestures or his looks. A masterclass.

By Andrea Arnold. With Nykiya Adams, Barry Keoghan, Franz Rogowski… Duration 1h59. Released January 1, 2025