Bird

The 2024 British drama film, written and directed by Andrea Arnold, centers on a twelve-year-old girl named Bailey, who lives in a dilapidated building with her father, Bug, and half-brother, Hunter. One day, Bug announces his engagement to a woman named Kayleigh, whom he has known for only three months, with the wedding set for the upcoming Saturday. Shocked and upset, Bailey refuses to attend the ceremony and storms out. Later, Hunter reveals his involvement in a vigilante group, piquing Bailey's interest. She decides to follow them and witnesses the group of boys breaking into a house and threatening a man with a knife. The police arrive quickly, and Bailey manages to escape into an empty field, where she falls asleep for the night. The next morning, she encounters a mysterious man who calls himself Bird and follows him to an apartment complex, where he searches for a woman who used to live there, but to no avail. Bailey leaves but notices Bird on the building's roof before Bug arrives to take her home and grounds her for staying out overnight. The film premiered on May 16, 2024, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. In the United States and the United Kingdom, it was released theatrically on November 8, 2024, by Mubi and received positive reviews from critics, being named one of the top ten independent films of 2024 by the National Board of Review.