---
title: "Bird"
year: 2024
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/bird"
fi1m_id: "bird"
imdb_id: "tt28277817"
tmdb_id: 1128752
wikidata_id: "Q120188885"
fi1m_score: 73
critics_score: 76
critics_reviews: 13
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:57.544086+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Bird (2024)

Directed by Andrea Arnold · 1h 59m · MPA R · Drama

## Identity

Bird

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/bird
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** bird
- **IMDb ID:** tt28277817
- **TMDB ID:** 1128752
- **Wikidata ID:** Q120188885
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28277817/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1128752, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q120188885

**Fi1m score: 73** · Critics 76 from 13 reviews

*In a sentence:* A dad, a toad, and a stranger in a skirt who will not say where he is from

> Andrea Arnold’s Kent drama has a remarkable first performance from Nykiya Adams and a Barry Keoghan on fine, feckless form. The fairy tale Arnold wraps round them is less sure of itself, and the last act reaches for more than it has earned. Worth your evening.

## Synopsis

Bailey (Nykiya Adams) is twelve and lives in a squat in Kent, near the Thames estuary, with her father Bug (Barry Keoghan) and her brother Hunter (Jason Buda). Bug has a new girlfriend, Kayleigh (Frankie Box), and is trying to raise money by unusual means. Bailey wants no part of it. She cuts her hair off, takes her phone out to the marshes and films birds. There she meets a soft-spoken stranger who calls himself Bird (Franz Rogowski) and says he is looking for the parents he last saw here as a child. Her mother Peyton (Jasmine Jobson) lives across town with a boyfriend, Skate (James Nelson-Joyce), and Bailey’s younger half-siblings. Andrea Arnold writes and directs.

## Review

Bailey (Nykiya Adams) is twelve and lives in a squat in Kent, by the Thames estuary, with her father Bug (Barry Keoghan) and her brother Hunter (Jason Buda). Bug has a new girlfriend, Kayleigh (Frankie Box), and a plan to raise money that involves a toad. Bailey wants nothing to do with any of it. She cuts her hair off in the bathroom, takes her phone out to the marshes and films birds. There she meets a man called Bird (Franz Rogowski), in a skirt and a cardigan, who says he is looking for the parents he last saw here as a child. Andrea Arnold, who wrote and directed, has made a film about a girl who wants to get away and a stranger who might know how. It is good in the way most of her films are good, and uneven in a way most of them are not.

This is Adams’s first film, and Arnold has built it round the fact. Bailey does not explain herself; she watches, jaw set, and decides whether to bolt. Robbie Ryan keeps the camera handheld and at her shoulder, so that adults arrive as torsos and shouting, and he cuts in the shaky phone video she shoots of gulls, horses and insects on stalks. We were more moved than we expected by a small thing early on: Bailey alone on the squat roof, headphones in, filming a gull against a white sky, and Ryan holding the shot long enough for us to understand that the phone is the only way she has of being somewhere else. Nobody tells us this. Adams’s stillness does.

Keoghan is the noise. Bug is a father in his twenties who has never stopped being fourteen: tattoos up both arms, an electric scooter, a plan to get rich from the slime of a toad he keeps in a tank, to which he plays music so it will produce. We laughed a good deal at him, and then felt the cost of laughing when he turns on his daughter for spoiling the mood. Keoghan gets both halves of that into single scenes, sometimes into single lines. Maxine Carlier’s production design makes the squat look like a child’s bedroom scaled up and never tidied. Alex Bovaird’s costumes do the rest: Bird’s skirt and cardigan look wrong in every room he enters, which is the point.

Rogowski is a fine actor, and Arnold does not quite decide what he is for. Bird speaks softly, hops rather than walks, stands on roofs with his arms out in the wind, and asks polite questions of people who want to hit him. In the first hour this is charming and a little unsettling, which is the right mix. Later, when he follows Bailey into the household of her mother Peyton (Jasmine Jobson) and Peyton’s boyfriend Skate (James Nelson-Joyce), who is the film’s real danger, his gentleness starts to play as a device. We are waiting for him to do something, and the film knows we are waiting.

Joe Bini cuts at a run. Scenes end before they settle; the film jumps from the squat to the marsh to the scooter to a shot of a beetle in seconds. Burial’s score stays low and suits the estuary. But the pace has a price. Hunter’s own story is set up and then dropped for long stretches, and the adults’ plans keep slipping out of view just as they start to matter.

Then, in the last half hour, the film does something we will not describe. Arnold has prepared for it, but the tone she lands on is sweeter than anything before it has paid for. It is the moment most critics divide on, and we came down on the doubtful side. Set beside [*Fish Tank*](https://film.one/film/fish-tank) (2009), her earlier film about a Kent girl and an unreliable adult man, this one is warmer, funnier and less disciplined. That film stayed on the ground and was the better for it.

See it for Adams. If the man in the skirt starts to lose you, look at the girl filming him, and stay for her. It is 119 minutes and a 15.

*Fi1m score 73, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics warm to Bird, and the spread is fairly narrow: ten positive, three mixed, none hostile. The praise settles almost unanimously on Nykiya Adams, a newcomer, whose performance as Bailey is described again and again as the thing that holds the film together, with Barry Keoghan’s volatile father Bug and Franz Rogowski’s gentle stranger close behind. Many reviews also single out the soundtrack and an unexpectedly hopeful final stretch.

The reservations gather around Arnold’s move from kitchen-sink realism into fable: several critics find the magical elements jarring or say they do not cohere, and a few note a drift into sentimentality. Slant goes furthest, finding the narrative slack and the artful touches a drag on authenticity, while Collider and Variety suspect the film will chiefly please those already fond of Arnold. At the other end, NME is the most enthusiastic and awards full marks. The arguments are about the fairy tale, not the girl at the centre of it.

## Straight answers

**Is Bird worth watching?**

*Bird* is worth watching for Nykiya Adams's first performance and for Barry Keoghan as her feckless father, and we scored it 73. Andrea Arnold's Kent drama is warm and funny for an hour before the fairy tale around Franz Rogowski's stranger loses its footing, and the last half hour reaches for more than it has earned. See it for the girl.

**How long is Bird, and what is it rated?**

*Bird* runs 1h 59m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film.

**Where can I watch Bird in the US?**

*Bird* is streaming on MUBI in the US. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Bird, and is it suitable for children?**

*Bird* is a 15 in the UK and an R in the US, and it is not for children. The film is about a twelve-year-old girl living in a squat with a father in his twenties, and the real danger comes from her mother's boyfriend, whose household she is drawn into. It is more bleak than frightening, but the threat to a child is close and constant.

**How does Bird compare to Fish Tank?**

*Bird* is warmer, funnier and less disciplined than [*Fish Tank*](https://film.one/film/fish-tank), Andrea Arnold's earlier film about a Kent girl and an unreliable adult man. *Fish Tank* stays on the ground and is the tighter of the two; *Bird* wraps a fairy tale around its heroine that it does not fully control. Both rest on a raw first performance, Katie Jarvis in one, Nykiya Adams in the other.

**What should I watch after Bird?**

After *Bird*, try [*Fish Tank*](https://film.one/film/fish-tank) (2009, Fi1m 85): Arnold’s earlier Kent film, tougher and tighter, with Katie Jarvis just as raw as Adams. Then [*Ratcatcher*](https://film.one/film/ratcatcher) (1999, Fi1m 88): Lynne Ramsay’s Glasgow childhood, seen at a boy’s height, with the same sudden flights into beauty; and [*The Florida Project*](https://film.one/film/the-florida-project) (2017, Fi1m 88): Children running wild round a motel while the adults fail them; sunnier, just as sharp.

### Reviews we read (28)

- **Empire**, Sophie Butcher (85/100, inferred): This is a classic Andrea Arnold picture about hope, with striking new talent in Nykiya Adams as Bailey and moving insight into life on the margins. The critic highlights the tender friendship between Bailey and the enigmatic Bird, Keoghan's comedic yet heartfelt performance as Bug, and the uplifting final sequence. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/bird/)
- **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (4/4/5): Social and magical realism merge in Andrea Arnold’s scintillating Thames Estuary fable about the friendship between a latchkey kid and a smiling wanderer searching for home. Bailey’s feelings of rejection have led her to reject the world back in turn, but the arrival of Bird starts to change her perspective through a patchwork of moments. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/bird)
- **Radio Times**, Amber Wilkinson (4/5): 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. Arnold effectively explores the point at which human nature and animal instinct meet, balancing the mood with care without shying away from the grimmer aspects of Bailey’s life. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/bird-barry-keoghan-nykiya-adams-review/)
- **The Guardian**, Wendy Ide (80/100, inferred): The critic praises Arnold's feral, fantastical drama as her closest film to a feelgood flick, celebrating unconventional characters and finding beauty in marginalised lives. The remarkable newcomer Nykiya Adams as Bailey is singled out for her bristling, pugnacious performance. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/nov/10/bird-review-andrea-arnolds-wild-joyous-coming-of-age-drama)
- **The i Paper**, Christina Newland (80/100, inferred): Arnold combines kitchen-sink realism with magical realism in a working-class fairy tale that finds freedom and joy despite cycles of poverty. The critic praises the lively chemistry between Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski, and the gentle presence of newcomer Nykiya Adams as Bailey, leading to an affirming, buoyant conclusion. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/bird-andrea-arnold-review-3362434)
- **The AV Club**, Natalia Keogan (B-): The critic sees it as a flawed modern fairy tale where Arnold dabbles in surrealism that feels overwrought as a metaphor for survival, favoring caricature over nuance though praising the soundtrack and the lead performance. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/bird-review)
- **Vulture** (70/100, inferred): The film is an endearing but ungainly mix of gritty drama and fairy tale that is compelling yet sketch-like, with strong performances especially from the young lead though tonal shifts around the character Bird prove tricky. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-bird-is-an-endearing-ungainly-modern-day-fairy-tale.html)
- **Slant Magazine**, David Robb (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a gritty yet sentimental coming-of-age fable where artful indulgences detract from authenticity, with strong direction of actors but narrative lacking urgency and coherence. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/bird-review-barry-keoghan-franz-rogowski-andrea-arnold/)
- **Evening Standard**, Jo-Ann Titmarsh: The critic calls it a far more accomplished return to the themes of Fish Tank, with Barry Keoghan delivering a tour de force as the volatile father Bug. She singles out the film's focus on nature and freedom amid social realism, loving the touch of magical realism despite potential criticism. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/bird-cannes-film-festival-review-barry-keoghan-b1158302.html)
- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★★★★☆): The review calls it a bold modern fable with a kinder, sadder creature than Hitchcock's birds, highlighting the youthful sense of possibility shared by the tough 12-year-old protagonist and the cryptic stranger. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/6c50172e-90af-4910-a631-5cd6856ef87b)
- **IndieWire**, Ryan Lattanzio: The critic notes Arnold goes surreal in her strangest movie yet with Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski shining to varying results in the story of a girl's friendship with a kindly vagabond. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/bird-review-andrea-arnold-barry-keoghan-1235005425/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Robert Abele: The review highlights a hopeful streak in this raw fable about a young girl's search for stability amid hardship, praising the poetic visuals, strong performances by the leads, and Arnold's blend of social realism with fantasy elements. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-11-14/bird-review-andrea-arnold-franz-rogowski-barry-keoghan)
- **Screen Daily**: Andrea Arnold blends gritty and magical realism in her Kent-set Competition title starring Barry Keoghan. Arnold weaves a subtle mix between gritty realism and the magical kind, rolling up several of the themes that have caught Arnold’s attention over the years. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/bird-cannes-review/5193593.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: Newcomer Nykiya Adams triumphs in this otherworldly kitchen sink story of a young girl who forms a bond with a peculiar stranger. Arnold grapples with the very real dilemma of how to keep one’s senses, and spirit, alive, against uncertainty and pain. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bird-andrea-arnolds-tender-contemporary-fable)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Leslie Felperin: The critic finds the film an uplifting, entrancing magical-realist fable that transforms from gritty social realism, praising the director's knack with actors especially the young lead and the optimistic ending while noting some sentimentality. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/bird-review-andrea-arnold-barry-keoghan-franz-rogowski-1235901292/)
- **The New York Times**, Alissa Wilkinson: The critic finds the film warm and sincere, praising its focus on love, safety, and the realization that parents are doing their best. It singles out the heartfelt performances and emotional authenticity in depicting chaotic family life. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/movies/bird-review.html)
- **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★★☆): The critic applauds Arnold's ambitious blend of social and magical realism as strange, beguiling and quietly moving, noting the big swing in the final sequence with special effects. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/bird-review-barry-keoghan-drama-movie-c0cmcpb99)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman: The critic sees it as a gritty yet fantastical coming-of-age tale that mixes emotional poverty with fairy-tale elements but questions its authenticity and broad appeal, noting it may mainly satisfy Arnold's fans. [Read](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/bird-review-barry-koeghan-franz-rokowski-andrea-arnold-cannes-1236006031/)
- **NME**, Jordan Bassett (5/5): The critic hails it as a divisive but life-enhancing masterpiece blending social realism with magical realism. The stellar soundtrack and scenes of unexpected grace and optimism are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/bird-review-barry-keoghan-3794563)
- **The Playlist**, Rafa Sales Ross (A-): The film threads the line between real and surreal in a tender coming-of-age fable, with standout gentle empathy from Rogowski and a career-making turn from newcomer Adams. Arnold captures a tangible sense of place and the beauty in formative relationships. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/bird-review-franz-rogowski-shines-in-arnolds-beautiful-coming-of-age-tale-cannes-20240516/)
- **Digital Spy**, Mireia Mullor (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it one of the year's best British movies, praising Arnold's generous, non-judgmental take on working-class life blended with surreal elements. Nykiya Adams' debut performance is singled out as superb. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a62693379/bird-review/)
- **Collider**, Caleb Hammond (6/10): The review notes that the film feels too familiar overall despite welcome additions like magical realism, and is unlikely to win over non-fans of Arnold's style. It singles out Barry Keoghan's charismatic performance as Bug and the standout introduction of the titular Bird character for shining moments. [Read](https://collider.com/bird-movie-review/)
- **The Skinny**, Anna Ireland (★★★): The critic finds it a textured and lived-in coming-of-age fairytale that is brilliant when it flows. The more fantastical elements are singled out as sometimes jarring or not landing in execution. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/bird-andrea-arnold)
- **Deadline**, Joe Utichi: The critic finds Arnold's film a redemption tale amid bleakness, with a sunlit ray of hope at the end thanks to fantastical elements. Rogowski's captivating performance as Bird and strong turns from the young cast are singled out for praise. [Read](https://deadline.com/2024/05/bird-review-barry-keoghan-franz-rogowski-andrea-arnold-cannes-film-festival-1235919041/)
- **Eye for Film**, Richard Mowe: Arnold returns to social-realist territory with a dysfunctional family tale lifted by fantasy and magical realism elements that provide an uplifting outcome. The non-professional young lead gives a knockout performance that draws viewers into her marginal existence. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/bird-2024-film-review-by-richard-mowe)
- **Film Stories**, Maria Lattila: Arnold leans into magical realism in this coming-of-age story about a young girl navigating family upheaval and a mysterious stranger, but the approach does not always cohere. The young lead delivers an enormously engaging performance that anchors the film. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/bird-review-a-magical-drama-that-never-quite-takes-flight/)
- **Paste**, Farah Cheded (8.0): The critic praises Arnold's shift into a more fantastical fairy tale that blends raw brutality with transcendence through magical realism. They single out the central performances, especially Franz Rogowski as Bird and newcomer Nykiya Adams, for capturing compassion and a child's imagination amid harsh circumstances. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/andrea-arnold/bird-review)
- **The Wrap**: The critic calls the drama arresting and surreal, noting it takes a big swing into magical realism that largely works. Nykiya Adams' astounding debut performance is highlighted as the standout element that makes the film soar. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/bird-andrea-arnold-movie-review/)

## Details

- **Director:** Andrea Arnold
- **Director:** Andrea Arnold
- **Screenplay:** Andrea Arnold
- **Cinematography:** Robbie Ryan
- **Editor:** Joe Bini
- **Music:** Burial
- **Production design:** Maxine Carlier
- **Costume design:** Alex Bovaird
- **Producer:** Tessa Ross, Lee Groombridge, Juliette Howell
- **Cast:** Nykiya Adams as Bailey; Franz Rogowski as Bird; Barry Keoghan as Bug; Jason Buda as Hunter; Jasmine Jobson as Peyton; Frankie Box as Kayleigh; James Nelson-Joyce as Skate; Jason Williamson as Fred
- **Runtime:** 1h 59m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 8 November 2024
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Box office:** $2 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PFnYr3dm1Y

## Where to watch in the US

- MUBI: streaming, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DE, ES, FR, GB, HU, IE, JP, MX, NZ, PA, PL, RO, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Fish Tank* (2009), Fi1m 85: Arnold’s earlier Kent film, tougher and tighter, with Katie Jarvis just as raw as Adams. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/fish-tank.md)
- *Ratcatcher* (1999), Fi1m 88: Lynne Ramsay’s Glasgow childhood, seen at a boy’s height, with the same sudden flights into beauty. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ratcatcher.md)
- *The Florida Project* (2017), Fi1m 88: Children running wild round a motel while the adults fail them; sunnier, just as sharp. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-florida-project.md)
- *Nobody Knows* (2004), Fi1m 87: Four Tokyo children left to raise themselves; Kore-eda watches and never lectures. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/nobody-knows.md)
- *The Spirit of the Beehive* (1973), Fi1m 87: A Spanish girl, a stranger in a barn, and a film that keeps its magic ambiguous. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-spirit-of-the-beehive.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/bird