Andrea Arnold's ‘Bird’ is, Sadly, Her Worst Film [Cannes]

It turns out that Andrea Arnold’s “Bird” is unlike any film that she’s made before, almost playing like a fable, steeped in magical realism.

The setting is familiar territory for Arnold; A working-class neighborhood is where 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams), nearing puberty, lives with her single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan) and brother Hunter (Jason Buda), in a Northen Kent squat. Bug is hinted at being a drug dealer, having just bought a toad that can excrete hallucinogenic slime as he cared, so gently, for it, throughout the film.

Bailey’s sisters live with their mother, Peyton (Jasmine Jobson), and her abusive partner. We quickly see Bug, who also has a son named Hunter (Jason Buda), with another woman, announcing that he’s engaged to his new girlfriend, Kayleigh (Frankie Box). Bailey isn’t happy about the news and frowns back to her room. In a rebellious act, she cuts her hair short and starts hanging with the wrong people.

Once this set-up has been completed, Franz Rogowski’s character, who goes by Bird, appears ––introduced with a gust of wind, Arnold hints at this man possibly being a supernatural fowl. He barely speaks, has rather strange clothing, always having a dress on, and Bailey takes a strange liking to him. Bird is searching for his family, whom he says he hasn’t seen in 30-some-odd years. They go knocking at doors, looking for answers, but always hit a dead end.

In similar fashion to her previous films, Arnold has cast a mix of non-professional and professional actors in “Bird.” She still maintains the kitchen-sink realism, great soundtrack, and handheld camera movements. However, what’s lacking here is a real sense of authenticity. You don’t always believe the implausible actions of its characters.

The key character here is Rogowski’s Bird, and Rogowski exudes mystery in the role — strange clothing, odd accent and other-worldly behavior — always found perching on rails. The more we see of him, the more intrigued we get by Arnold’s film, which does come off as a tad too on the nose in its thematic delivery. A clunky subplot involving Bailey’s brother, who impregnates his 14-year-old girlfriend and decides to run away with her to Scotland, is puzzling and inefficient.

Shot by Robbie Ryan, and solidly acted by everyone, especially Keoghan as a well-meaning, but deadbeat dad, the film somehow, and unlike Arnold’s previous films, delves into gushy sentimentality. There was a feeling, in Arnold’s best films (“Fish Tank” and “American Honey”) that she ingrained herself in the territory she was tackling, almost like a gonzo journalist. The Arnold magic isn’t as present here.

There’s a lack of clarity in “Bird,” you’re never really sure if Arnold has found her voice in telling this story — unable to efficiently mix the fantasy elements with grounded realism. It’s nevertheless a curiously fascinating entry in her filmography and the more the film goes along, the better it does get. Sadly, we’re left with very little to chew on — this peculiar story never fully grabs you like it should. [B-]