Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives in a dilapidated house with her hapless dad, Bug (Barry Keoghan), and older brother, Hunter (Jason Buda), and she’s starting to realise life isn’t turning out so great. It’s not clear how Bug makes his money, and he spends exactly no time looking after his kids. Meanwhile Bailey’s mother, separated from Bug, is no better off.

In this precarious domestic environment, tensions mount and father and daughter continue to fear, anger and misunderstand one another in myriad ways. In turmoil, Bailey bolts and runs away, a whirlwind of impulses. Only in nature does she slow down. Her iPhone’s camera becomes her greatest ally.

Nominated for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Andrea Arnold’s third feature film incapsulates the magic of cinema as a sensory tool for discovering and staying connected to the material world, and dreams. Featuring an electrifying ensemble cast, Bird is Arnold at her very best pitting the gauzy dreamscape of youth against the rough cynicism of adulthood.

Rating

MA15+

Duration

119 MINS