Birdeater follows a bride-to-be as she joins her fiance’s bachelor party in the remote Australian Outback. As the festivities spiral into chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed which turn the celebration into a feral nightmare.
Over the first act of Birdeater, there isn’t a lot going on. The movie introduces the audience to the cast of characters, which features a variety of different personalities. This is the driving force of the film’s tension, as the individuals are constantly bickering and generating uncomfortable situations. Because of the vagueness early on in Birdeater, the film also prompts many questions that are answered throughout the rest of the runtime.
While this is a drama-thriller, the early stages of Birdeater are underratedly hilarious as well. The mismatched characters lead to a lot of comedic moments, with Ben Hunter stealing the show as Dylan. This is all combined with a lot of uncertainties as the group’s insecurities and secrets rise.
Because so much time is spent on establishing the characters early on, Birdeater is able to have tremendous payoff in both the second and third acts. Strictly relying on dialogue, the film creates true tension that is ramped up more and more. Being nearly two hours and utilizing conversations to provide thrills, Birdeater could’ve easily become repetitive. Instead, it continuously reinvents the wheel and tries different ways of producing anxiety-riddled moments.
This is all heightened by the flick’s visual flare. Birdeater takes everything that you’re supposed to do as a filmmaker, and throws it out the window. The different techniques create an incredibly disorienting experience that fits the tone perfectly. The use of close-ups, jarring cuts and phenomenal editing and sound design add to the immersive experience as well.
The final act of Birdeater continues to find different ways to provide backstory, including both storytelling from characters and flashbacks. This did lose me in moments, but it ultimately amounted to very surprising and even shocking events. The last 20 minutes were… interesting, however. After such an energetic, trippy and wild journey, it comes to a somewhat middling end. The film gives each character their moment to shine, which works in a sense, but also unnecessarily drags out the runtime. It felt like the movie didn’t know how to end, and because of that it loses steam in the closing moments.
Birdeater isn’t afraid to go dark. The film deals with extremely complex themes including abuse and toxic masculinity that masterfully unravel through dialogue. It kept me guessing from start to finish, making for a truly unpredictable experience… which doesn’t happen often.
Rating: 4 out of 5
