| Songbird | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Adam Mason |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jacques Jouffret |
| Edited by | Geoffrey O'Brien |
| Music by | Lorne Balfe |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | STXfilms |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $700,000–2.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $1 million[2] |
Songbird is a 2020 Americandystopianscience fiction thriller film based on theCOVID-19 pandemic. It was directed by Adam Mason, who wrote the screenplay with Simon Boyes. Produced byMichael Bay,Adam Goodman, Andrew Sugerman and Eben Davidson, the film features anensemble cast ofKJ Apa,Sofia Carson,Craig Robinson,Bradley Whitford,Peter Stormare,Alexandra Daddario,Paul Walter Hauser andDemi Moore, depicting their struggle living under a highly strict and brutal quarantine by thehighly authoritarian government in the midst of a mutating virus outbreak.
The film was released on December 11, 2020. It received generally negative reviews.
By 2024,COVID-19 has been mutated into COVID-23 and the world is in its fourthquarantine year. In the United States, the nation's government is converted into a fascistpolice state and the people are required to take temperature checks on their cell phones while those infected with COVID-23 are taken from their homes against their will and forced into quarantine camps, also known as "Q-Zones" orconcentration camps, where some fight back against the brutal restrictions. In these camps, the infected are left to die or forcibly get better.
Nico Price, a motorbikecourier withimmunity, due to the fact he was infected with the virus, is in a virtual relationship with Sara Garcia, a young artist living with her grandmother Lita whose lockdown prohibits them from physical contact. Nico works for Lester, who specializes in delivering packages to wealthy individuals. One of their biggest clients is the Griffins, Piper and William, whose daughter Emma has anauto-immune disorder. William is a former record executive having asexualaffair with May, a singer who makes a living online selling covers of classic songs. May develops a bond with Michael Dozer, a disabled war veteran who works for Lester as adrone operator to keep track of their couriers.
One night, Lita begins to show symptoms of COVID-23 while the "sanitation" department, led by Emmett Harland, is forcing Sara's neighbor Alice out of her apartment after she becomes infected. Emmett warns Sara that their apartment building has seen a rise in infections. He has also killed one of the infected individuals who escaped from the nearby Q-zone with apocket knife. Sara informs Nico about Lita's condition, leading Nico to spend the night by Sara's apartment door. In the morning, Sara passes her temperature check, but Lita fails hers. Nico promises to keep Sara from being taken.
Nico contacts Lester to let him know that he's aware they are transporting illegal immunity wristbands. Lester tells him the Griffins are the ones selling them. When he goes to their house, the Griffins give Nico the phone number of their supposed supplier. Nico ends up meeting with Emmett at a warehouse, revealing it to be a trap which Nico escapes.
As Sara is waiting for Nico, Lita dies. The "sanitation" department arrives to bag Lita and detain Sara. Sara knocks out one of the members and takes hishazmat suit before escaping the building. Emmett and his team ultimately catch up to Sara, where he notes that Sara has yet to show symptoms of COVID-23 despite her exposure and is therefore immune. Sara is detained shortly afterward.
William demands to see May again, but May continually refuses, claiming she recorded him offering her an illegal immunity wristband. Piper overhears William's phone call with May and kicks him out of the house. William leaves to silence May, which Piper calls May to warn her about. May asks Michael if she can stay with him, to which he agrees. When May tries to leave, William arrives and tries to kill her, but Michael uses a weaponized drone to fatally shoot William.
Nico returns to the Griffins and confronts Piper, who says she was concerned Nico was trying to expose their illegal business. When Nico says he's only interested in saving Sara, Piper finally agrees to help and gives him a wristband for Sara. Nico returns to Sara's apartment to find Emmett, who tries to attack Nico but is stabbed by Nico in self-defense. Nico finds Sara's cell phone with a picture of the containment van and its tail number. With Lester and Michael's help, Nico races to the Q-Zone before Sara can be taken in. Nico is able to slip the immunity bracelet on Sara in time to be scanned, saving her from quarantine. As they embrace for the first time, Sara tells Nico she is truly immune.
In the aftermath, Piper and May frame William and Emmett as those responsible for the sale of illegal immunity wristbands. May and Michael begin a virtual relationship. Nico sends Lester his own immunity bracelet as thanks while he and Sara ride up thePacific Coast Highway.
On March 14, 2020, Adam Mason received a call from Simon Boyes, who had an idea for a film based on theCOVID-19 pandemic.[3] The pair spent the following weekend plotting out the film, pitching their idea to producer Adam Goodman near the end of March.[4] In May 2020, it was reported thatMichael Bay, Goodman and Eben Davidson would produce a film about the COVID-19 pandemic, titledSongbird. Mason, who co-wrote the screenplay with Boyes, was set to direct.[5]
In June 2020,Demi Moore,Craig Robinson,Peter Stormare andPaul Walter Hauser were cast.[6] In July,Bradley Whitford,KJ Apa andSofia Carson joined the cast.[7][8] The cast were remotely trained in preparation for the shoot.[5]
Principal production commenced on July 8, 2020, in Los Angeles.[7] Filming was initially halted bySAG-AFTRA, who granted the production permission to proceed a day later.[9] The film wrapped on August 3, 2020.[10] It became the first film to shoot in Los Angeles during the lockdown due to COVID-19 restrictions.[11][12] The production adhered to safety protocols including regular testing, a maximum crew size of 40 per day, and keeping actors separated.[4] Bay, who was one of the producers, directed the film's action scenes.[13]
In October 2020,Lorne Balfe confirmed to score the film.[14] The soundtrack album was released on December 11, 2020, bySony Classical.[15] The song "Three Little Birds" byBob Marley, was featured in the film's official trailer.[16] The film's end title, "Kingdom" was released on the same day alongside the film. Performed and written by artist Roseanna (Røyale), who is former lead singer, Roseanna Brown ofThe Rua.[15] Co-written and produced by Irish singer and producer Liam Geddes.
In August 2020,STX Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film.[12] The film was released throughpremium VOD on December 11, 2020, and was planned to be released on a majorstreaming service provider in 2021.[17] It became the fourth-most rented film onFandangoNow in its debut weekend.[18]
The trailer was released in October 2020, with a poor response from critics and audiences. Criticism was aimed towards the production and timing of release due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, as well as romanticization of the topic, being compared unfavorably toRomeo and Juliet.[19][16]
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 9% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Muddled, tedious, and uninspired,Songbird's gimmick never coalesces into a meaningful story about pandemic lockdown."[20] AtMetacritic, the film has aweighted average score of 27 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[21]
Alonso Duralde ofTheWrap wrote "It's not inherently misguided to use a current tragedy as the jumping-off point of a genre movie, but any filmmaker who decides to do so had better create something provocative or interesting or at least competent to justify it."[22] Writing forIndieWire, David Ehrlich gave the film a "D" and said, "For all of its gimmicky appeal,Songbird is bad enough that your entire neighborhood will be able to smell it streaming onto your TV, and it gets worse faster than your nose can adjust to the stench."[23]Korey Coleman ofDouble Toasted found Peter Stormare's performance humorous, but criticized the overall message of the film, calling it "irresponsible", and noted the numerous plot holes imbued by the love story which overtook the entire premise.[24]
Rebecca Onion ofSlate wrote: "Songbird isn't very good, which you might expect for something thrown together so quickly... But watching it in the midst of our slow-motion disaster, it looks not just bad, but ridiculous."[25] Brian Tallerico ofRogerEbert.com gave the film 0/4 stars and wrote: "The truth is that even if one sets aside all potential moral arguments about the very existence ofSongbird, it's still just really bad."[26]Frank Scheck ofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Despite the high-stakes drama, there's nary a compelling moment throughout, and some of the characterizations... are so absurdly one-note that it's hard not to think that the film is meant as parody."[27]
Kevin Maher ofThe Times was more positive in his review of the film, giving four out of five stars and writing: "It's patchy, admittedly, in places... but it's also audacious and the first mainstream film to address unapologetically, in every scene, in every frame of film, our present situation."[28] Benjamin Lee ofThe Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, saying that it was "an acceptably watchable thriller that's more notable for what it achieves technically than anything else."[29]Robbie Collin ofThe Daily Telegraph also gave the film three out of five stars, saying that it was "even more spectacularly crass and exploitative than you could have possibly hoped", and concluded: "Songbird itself delivers an enjoyably tactless jolt of trash-cinema bravado."[30]
The SAG Low Budget Agreement applies to films with budgets between $700,000 and $2,500,000