‘SONGBIRD’ is a drama-thriller based on a what if scenario about the covid pandemic.
Slightly futuristic as it is set in 2024, it surmises that things have gotten worse by then.
The virus continues to mutate and the death rate has skyrocketed, forcing the USA to enforce a nationwide lockdown controlled by the military.
For their own safety, people are subjected to more restrictions and control procedures.
It is now very easy to check your own temperature or whether you are infected by the virus just by using your own cellphones.
The state police can easily detect which people are infected by the virus and they are immediately arrested, taken forcibly away from their homes to be hauled away into sinister quarantine concentration camps where no one is said to ever return alive.
The lead character is Nico (KJ Apa, the Kiwi actor who made it in Hollywood playing the lead role of Archie in “Riverdale” and has also done so many films), a bicycle deliver boy who is authorized to move around because he has immunity to the virus.
He works for Lester (Craig Robinson), a top delivery service owner who caters only to wealthy clients.
Nico is quite close to Lester’s assistant, Michael Dozer (Paul Walter Hauser), a wheelchair bound war veteran and techie who is a surveillance expert in operating drones to keep track of their itinerant couriers like Nico.
Nico is in a relationship with Sara (Sofia Carson), a pretty Latina girl who lives in a condo apartment building with her grandmother, Lita (Elpidia Carillo).
Theirs is actually a mere virtual love affair as the pandemic lockdown forbids them from personally seeing each other and making any physical kind of contact.
One of Nico’s regular clients is the couple, Piper and William Griffin (Demi Moore and Bradley Whitford).
They have a daughter, Emma (Lia McHugh), who has no immunity to germs so she is not allowed to get near to any outsider.
William used to be a record executive and he is having a secret affair with a beautiful aspiring singer, May (Alexandra Daddario), who earns by selling online cover versions of classic hit songs on youtube.
Michael Dozer is a friend of May and he will later help save her life.
Things get complicated when Sara’s grandma is infected by the virus.
The sanitation department that handles such cases is led by Emmet Harland (Peter Stormare), a ruthless and corrupt authority figure.
He has previously warned Sara that their condo building has a marked rise in infections and when her grandma dies, this means Sara will be taken to the quarantine camp.
Nico promises to help Sara by getting her an immunity wristband so she won’t be arrested. He aims to escape with Sarah and take her to a safer location somewhere.
He finds out that the people from whom he can get these wristbands are the Griffins and he will now do everything to get one for Sara’s safety.
Things escalate leading to a confrontation between Nico and Emmet Harland in a warehouse where Nico is set up.
Meantime, things also get worse for May as she wants to end her affair with William, but the persistent William refuses and gets violent.
The movie is produced by Michael Bay and directed by Adam Mason who are both censured for doing this movie in bad taste as it exploits a sad situation like the worldwide pandemic.
Personally, we find the film quite diverting as it follows parallel storylines of people trying to fight for survival.
It shows that in a crisis happening like the pandemic, we may all be leading separate lives of quiet desperation, but we are still somehow connected in a mystical way to show that there is a hidden meaning in life that unites us.
All in all, the movie works as an action thriller complete with suspenseful chase sequences, plot twists and some violence.
There are relatable characters you can get emotionally invested in, what with the acting generally fine.
The movie also shows that there will always be corrupt people even during times of worldwide difficulties.
And those gadgets they’ve invented to make sure packages being received and delivered are safe look really quite impressive.
