Andrea Arnold’s return to fiction with Bird is truly enchanting. I have to admit, I go for a bit of magical surrealism and I’m already pretty invested, but Bird goes far beyond just fitting into that category. It's essentially a story about growing up, focusing on Bailey, played by Nykiya Adams in what has to be called an incredible performance. And it's not just my enthusiasm—Adams has already won five awards for Breakthrough Performance, and she deserves them. There’s something very real and captivating about her that makes me believe we’ll be seeing a lot more of her work. The movie continues Arnold’s usual interest in young women living on the fringes of society, but this time it's seen through a perspective that feels both new and recognizable. Franz Rogowski (it seems like he’s been in every intelligent European independent film lately!) brings his characteristic quietness to his part as Bailey's counterpart. The other actors do well too, creating a world that feels genuine and believable. What really resonates with me is Arnold’s underlying sense of hopefulness. Throughout the movie, she incorporates this lovely idea about love—how we all express it differently, imperfectly, sometimes in complicated ways. And that's alright. More than alright, actually. It's a deep truth that some people spend years trying to grasp: that love, no matter what form it takes, doesn’t have to live up to any arbitrary expectations to be worthwhile. Arnold conveys this message—through her unique visual style and subtle moments of magic—and it simply clicks. It really does. I will say the handheld camera work at the beginning was a little disorienting and almost lost me. But maybe that's appropriate for a film about imperfect love—even its small shortcomings feel intentional, like they’re part of the larger truth Arnold is sharing with us. When the movie ended, I was sitting there, feeling a bit emotional, considering all the different ways people connect with each other in our complicated world. Not perfect? Absolutely. That's kind of the point, isn't it?

Source on TMDB