Critics reviews

Bird is two hours long but surprisingly never feels like it, and given the characters involved, you really don't know what is going to happen next... [It is] a story of finding your path in life from a director who always goes her own way.

Having long inhabited the gritty, social realist end of the spectrum, Arnold ventures into magical realism for the first time. If, like me, you’re somewhat allergic to the genre in its more twinkly and whimsical forms, fear not: this version has teeth... Bird finds beauty and wonder in every frame... It’s the closest Andrea Arnold has come to a feelgood flick.

Bird is indeed in many ways [Arnold's] sweetest and most joyous film—qualities she levels out with plenty of hard realities and a good share of violence, to be sure. But you don’t leave this movie feeling bleak... [Bird] is practically a fable.

There’s a wealth of lovely performances in “Bird,” including by Adams, who holds the film together by slowly taking on tenderness as it progresses. But the two poles of the movie are Rogowski and Keoghan... “Bird” would make a pretty good stage musical — not just because people always seem to be singing, but because it’s achingly, heartbreakingly sincere.

Bird is for every lost child who wishes someone would have stood up and defended them. It’s a fragile but beautiful vision, and marks the strongest blend yet of Andrea Arnold’s primary directives as a filmmaker.

[Arnold's magical realism] is striking, memorable, and poignant. It takes a while for all the plot threads to come into focus fully, but when it does, there is a complete, beautiful, tear-jerking portrait of lower-class life depicted with respect.

Bracing and beautiful... Adams delivers a striking, unaffected turn at the core, while Robbie Ryan’s restless, fluid camerawork apes Bailey’s nervous energy... It’s kitchen-sink terrain, but Arnold has always infused her films with vitality and hope; she understands that living on the edge can be as exhilarating as it is terrifying, and there is love and a little bit of magic here too.

Adams is the latest non-actor that Arnold has plucked from the community she wants to capture to be her star, and is a total revelation... As the enigmatic stranger, Rogowski is as mesmerising as ever, his unconventional clothing and graceful, balletic way of moving making him seem otherworldly.

Arnold establishes a rich world of complicated characters and beautiful, poetic moments... [She] grounds the film in gritty realism, but the narrative takes flight once more mythical elements are introduced, allowing the fable to soar in a new direction.

The dizzying nature of Arnold's camerawork may be alienating for some, but she reliably takes some bold strokes to complete perhaps her most innovative feature to date.

Stunning... Featuring a superb debut performance by Nykiya Adams and deliciously charismatic supporting roles from Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski... Bird is still a beautifully subtle, unexpected and fascinating watch.

With a high-velocity energy rarely found in social-realist dramas, Andrea Arnold’s coming-of-age film races between gritty realism and magical fabulism while barely pausing for breath... Bird represents a welcome shift in Arnold’s career away from pure neo-realism to more complex forms of storytelling.