TORONTO, Canada—Barry Keoghan is one of the most electric actors working today, and he’s absolutely on fire. the bird. As a single father of 12, The Saltburn And Banshees of Inisherin The standout is a whirlwind of noble, volatile energy, his eyes as fiery as those covered by tattoos of beetles, spiders, and a giant centipede stretching from around his neck to the side of his face—hence the name, Bug.
Does go through the city on a scooter while singing along For punk rock, line dancing or crooning to “Cotton Eye Joe.” ColdplayAs Toad is “yellow” with friends to get his delusional slime out (yes, you read that right), Keoghan exudes an unbridled magnetism that is the stuff of movie superstardom.
One of his two standout projects this year Toronto International Film Festival (with Bring them down), the birdPremiering at the Sept. 7 fest is a showcase for the charismatic Keoghan. However, he is only a supporting player in Andrea Arnold’s lyrical drama, the author’s first feature since 2016. American Honey.
Set in a London council estate that recalls the 2009 setting fish tankThe writer/director’s latest is actually about Bailey (newcomer Naykia Adams), a girl on the verge of a big change, whose life is turned upside down by an encounter with a stranger named Bird (ways‘ Frank Rogowski) who claims to have once lived in a nearby apartment building. A story of abuse, escape, resilience, hope, heartache and transformation, it’s another Arnold gem, not to mention an auspicious debut for its young lead.
On one of the many interconnected mesh trails that connect his home to the surrounding coastal area, Bailey films birds flying overhead. To her fascination, a seagull lands in her path, walks towards her, and gives a vague (if friendly?) greeting. Before Bailey can react, her avian visitor flies away at the sound of the bug’s approach, and its cacophony continues as it brings her back to their graffiti-covered residence, which they share with Bailey’s half-brother Hunter (Jason Buda). .
Bugs surprises Bailey with the news that he is hooking up with his new girlfriend Kylie (Frankie Box), who has a young daughter of her own. This doesn’t go over well, and as a result of the struggle, with the bug temporarily strangling her, Bailey chooses to let Hunter’s girlfriend cut off her wild locks—a decision that, throughout the rest of the film, earns her even more disparaging comments. flattery
Bailey connects to the world through her phone’s camera, videos of which she projects onto her bedroom wall. In that respect, she seems like a kindred spirit to Arnold, a filmmaker whose cinematographic gaze—marked by harsh, bouncy handheld visuals that connect to his protagonists, as well as sly associative edits that reflect his headspace— Seeks both understanding and community. with its working-class atmosphere.
Watching two blonde girls pass her by, or stalking Hunter when he and his friends go on a secret outing she’s forbidden to join, Bailey initially finds herself (and stability and happiness) by following others. the bird When Hunter’s excursion ends with police sirens, however, he flees to a nearby field, where he sleeps alone in the tall grass.
In the morning, Bailey wakes up to find a slightly disheveled man in a sweater and skirt who calls himself Bird, twirls for Bailey’s iPhone, and marvels at the “beautiful” day. Bailey takes the bird to the building next to her bedroom window, where it sits on the roof like countless flapping chickens in the gray sky. With a kind smile that marks him not only as a non-threat but, somehow, a natural friend and protector, Bird explains that he’s looking for the family he never knew, and that he believes That he lives in this place. Rogowski inhabits the man as a lost soul who might as well be inhuman, and Arnold pulls off a similar balancing act, never sacrificing the hard edge of his portrait of this fantastical situation.
deftly interjecting magical realism into his realistic drama, the bird Jim remembers Sheridan fondly In AmericaAnd like its predecessors, Arnold’s film is filled with both joy and sorrow, triumph and tragedy. On the same morning that she overhears Hunter discussing his partner’s unexpected pregnancy—which threatens to make him a father at 14, the same age Bug had—Bailey has her first period. The transition to womanhood proves dangerous for the girl, especially once she moves to her mother’s (Sarah Beth Harbour) residence and discovers that everyone (including her teenage half-siblings) lives in fear or scat (James Nelson-Joyce). , his mom’s new lover.
As his father’s wedding day approaches and Bailey continues to be a groomsman, Arnold provides regular doses of terror and humor, the latter mainly coming from Keoghan’s bug, who can’t stop himself from bursting into song, including the production of narcotics. included. He believes that the frog will finance his marriage.
Arnold often dramatizes the bird It’s striking, to put it harshly, that every time she turns away from the proper action for a quick flash of the past—a reflection of Bailey’s mind that makes the material more suited to her subjective perspective. The film’s sudden, graceful poetics are almost as shocking, and as affecting, as its violence, and it rings truer as Bailey follows a trip to the beach with Bird and her younger brothers and sisters, leading as much as she follows. likes .
At certain points, Arnold stops being subtle about Bird’s true nature, but in the director’s sure hand, that otherworldly revelation comes as a natural outgrowth of Bailey’s desire for evolution, power, nurturing and flight.
Throughout, Rogowski and Adams’ rapport – predicated on the silent shared glances and the unspoken understanding they express – provides the bird with its revolving emotional base. Keoghan, meanwhile, gives him an irresistible enthusiasm that culminates with a post-wedding party and, later, a scooter ride into town with Bailey and Hunter that underscores that growing up isn’t something you do alone; Rather, at its best, it is a collective process that we love.
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