Songbird on netflix8/16/2023 ![]() ![]() The only thing of value to the wealthy now is the freedom to wander outside, so that commands the highest price. That inequality is explicit in a sexual encounter between an older, rich man and a younger woman, which shows the stark realities of power and coercion when protection during sex means your own air supply.Īnd like every war it has its quick-on-their-feet spivs and black-marketeers, making the best of it for personal gain. Somehow that never happened to us and it doesn’t happen in Songbird either. Sound familiar?Ī disruptive event can tear a hole in the fabric of society, providing an opportunity to create a fairer world. The poster has the tagline “The only way out is together”, though really the biggest takeaway from Songbird is that its pandemic has only entrenched and widened inequality and wealth under the guise of “we’re all in this together”. She’s found an outlet though, singing online, and reaching out to disabled veteran Dozer (Paul Walter Hauser) who knows all about trying to reclaim some freedom to roam in a shrinking world. The young see their dreams put on hold singer-songwriter May (Alexandra Daddario) is stuck in an LA motel, brought there by a music executive who was going to make her a star. ![]() Notices in wealthy areas state they shoot on sight, and government recorded messages are cheery yet threatening: “your compliance is mandatory, and appreciated!” There are the silly but alliterate slogans: “stay safe, sane and sanitised!” says Head of Sanitation, Emmett Harland (Peter Stormare). Songbird highlights society’s resilience and looks at our adaptability, for good or ill – from the UV postboxes that instantly sanitise deliveries to the tacit acceptance of the Q-zones, as long as we don’t get sent there ourselves. Still, besides its first-to-market cachet, Songbird is not without its charms, beyond its spinning magnetism, repelling and compelling us. It’s no classic, with lightly-drawn heroes and marker-pen baddies. Sara lives with her grandmother, Lita (Elpidia Carrillo) they listen in shock as a neighbour who has failed her daily virus check bangs on Sara’s door begging for help before being dragged away. Most romantic movies don’t look forward, but even so this is about living in the extraordinary moment and trying not to think too far backwards or ahead (not least because you might fall down a plothole). While online dating is old now, in these times whether they’d even be compatible long-term isn’t the point their future together, despite it driving the plot, isn’t that important. Nico has fallen in love with Sara (Sofia Carson), though he’s never seen her in “real life”. The violence is government-sponsored but also small-scale and (im)personal, as citizens testing positive for the virus are dragged away. It’s directed by Adam Mason from a script he co-wrote, and produced by Michael Bay, and while it’s fast-moving any explosions are limited to a few plumes of smoke rising across the city. It’s overly earnest but lean and fast at only 84 minutes, a scant but enjoyable thriller wrapped up in extraordinary times (though not as extraordinary as they would have seemed a year ago). Songbird is the first mainstream movie to come from our 2020 pandemic. “Do you think we’re just fish in a bowl to him?” laughs Emma, the tween daughter of wealthy couple Piper Griffin (Demi Moore) and her husband William ( Get Out‘s Bradley Whitford). Recipients are often rich and grumpy, envying Nico (KJ Apa) his freedom. LA is almost empty, as cheery Nico and his fellow “munie” (immune) cycle couriers drop off packages for a delivery company.
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