Stephen King Thought Critics Weren't Kind Enough To This Netflix Sci-Fi Horror Movie

When someone who knows their horror stories as well as Stephen King recommends something spooky, we listen. And what's the best-selling author championing today? Why, none other than the Netflix sci-fi horror flick "Bird Box." In the movie, a mother (Sandra Bullock) and her kids attempt to navigate a post-apocalyptic world while blindfolded, lest they gaze upon the mysterious creatures that caused the downfall of human society in the first place. These entities, you see, cause anyone who sees them to kill themselves, so the only way to survive in their presence is to never, ever look at them directly.

So, what did King think of the Susanne Bier-directed 2018 chiller? Here's what he wrote about the film on X (formerly known as Twitter) back when it first came out:

"I was absolutely riveted by 'BIRD BOX' (Netflix). Don't believe the lukewarm reviews, which may in part have been caused by reviewers' ambivalence to the streaming platform, as opposed to theatrical releases."

As you can see, King felt the middling response to "Bird Box" may've partly stemmed from people's unfavorable views of Netflix's exclusives at the time. That said, the film wasn't exactly panned by critics. As of this writing, "Bird Box" has a perfectly decent 64% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers being particularly kind toward its mood and performances. Reviewing the movie for /Film upon its release, Chris Evangelista was similarly mixed to positive on "Bird Box," describing it as "frequently terrifying, but frustratingly derivative."

What's more, "Bird Box" was a massive success for Netflix in terms of its initial viewership, suggesting that there are millions of folks out there who've never harbored any ill will toward Netflix releases. In fact, "Bird Box" kinda took the world by storm in its day.

Unless one works for the streaming service and has access to the numbers, it's impossible to tell how accurate Netflix's viewing statistics are. Still, if we are to trust the information that was reported to us, "Bird Box" was viewed by roughly 45 million accounts within its first week of release. That was a Netflix record back in 2018, and the movie is apparently still the most-watched Netflix original horror film to this day. In fact, according to Netflix's official brand Tudum, "Bird Box" remains the sixth most watched exclusive on the platform overall ... although it doesn't even have half as many views as the streamer's current number one film, "KPop Demon Hunters" (the movie so popular it forced Netflix to finally cave in and release some actual merchandise). 

What's more interesting, though, is how the film captured the public imagination. If you were online in 2018, you probably remember the "Bird Box Challenge," itself a trend that saw people trying to complete tasks while blindfolded. Obviously, we don't recommend ever doing something as potentially dangerous as that at your home (or anywhere else for that matter). Be that as it may, the short-lived phenomenon suggests that people's desire to jump on trends eclipses any prejudices they may've had toward Netflix movies all those years ago.

Netflix has since released what most people agree is a mediocre extension of the franchise in the form of 2023's "Bird Box Barcelona," a movie that follows another group of survivors in the "Bird Box" universe (this time in Spain, naturally). It's unknown if Stephen King enjoyed the spin-off, but at one time, Netflix clearly had big ambitions for this saga.