Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Bird Box: Barcelona’ expands the world created by 2018’s ‘Bird Box’ starring Sandra Bullock. Taking place in Barcelona, it brings together a group of people, all trying to survive in a world that has been torn to pieces since the arrival of the mysterious creatures. Whenever someone looks at these creatures, they are killing themselves. So, people put on blindfolds to stop themselves from seeing.
The exact reasoning behind why and how the creatures can do such a thing isn’t explained, but the ending of the movie leaves things open-ended about the fate of the world. It hints at the possibility of a cure while also setting the stage for a possible sequel which might shed further light on the creatures and how to protect oneself from them. For now, the ending provides a reason for hope. Here’s what it means. SPOILERS AHEAD
Claire’s Trauma May Hold Key to Creature Cure
When the creatures attack the world, it doesn’t take long for the world to fall apart. Most of the population perishes on the first day as it takes time for people to understand what’s going on and how to protect themselves. By the time people realize that they have to stop themselves from seeing, the world has already gone to hell. However, not everyone dies after seeing the creatures.
‘Bird Box: Barcelona’ reveals that the creatures get inside their victim’s mind, showing them things that are not revealed. They tap into their memories and show them something related to their loved ones, which makes people walk into death with open arms. Everyone sees a different thing and dies differently. But some people see the creatures as angels or something equivalent. Looking at the creatures doesn’t affect these people, called Seers, like other people. The Seers don’t kill themselves but believe that they have to free other people from the bonds of their life, which is why they force others to see the creatures and kill themselves.
At first, it seems like the Seers are the people who have something missing inside them. They are the villains who enjoy watching others die. However, it’s more complicated than that. Through Sebastian, we discover that Seers are differently affected. They don’t enjoy watching people die. The creatures have altered their minds to genuinely believe they are freeing other people’s souls by killing them. There is no way to know who will turn into a Seer and who will be like any other victim. However, in the final scene, we get more insight into it.
When Claire reaches the castle, he is taken for a blood test. The scientist tells her that they have found markers in the blood of the Seers, which could be the key to the cure. The scientist says that when a person goes through a traumatic event, it changes their body chemistry, which leads to the creation of the markers that make them immune to the effects of the creatures. Or at least, they become immune from wanting to kill themselves.
The trauma could be anything, including grief, which explains why Sebastian, who’d watched his daughter die before his eyes, becomes a Seer. The trauma changed his body chemistry, releasing the marker that made him immune to suicide triggered by the creatures. However, it didn’t make him immune to the hallucinations that the creatures induced to control him. Still, Claire knew that there was a way to break out of these hallucinations. She’d already done it with Sebastian, who’d been hallucinating his daughter all this time.
To get out of the trance induced by the creatures, the Seers must try and accept their trauma, which is where therapy comes in. Still, their body chemistry has already been changed, and the marker in their blood could be the key to the cure. Claire realizes that she, too, has been through the trauma of her brother’s death. She wonders if her blood has those markers too. Could she be one of the Seers? The ending does not confirm that.
In the final scene, the soldiers inject the rats with the new test cure. They are then exposed to a creature, and it is suggested that the rats died, which means the cure didn’t work. We see a Seer strapped to a bed, meaning the cure could have been created from his blood. The fact that nothing is confirmed about Claire’s blood means that there is a possibility she might be a Seer, and her blood could be the key to saving the world.
Claire keeps her blindfold on throughout the movie, never risking seeing the creatures. The one time she takes the risk is when she has to take the tram to reach the castle. Even then, she puts the blindfold on before the creatures show up. So, there is no way to confirm whether or not she is a Seer. However, her trauma opens the possibility of the markers in her blood. That the film keeps it all uncertain shows that the writers have entertained that possibility. This means we might see more of Claire and how she can be used to create a cure that saves the world.
