If you'd like to be surprised by the Songbird film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 1:42, because it starts to give away too much of the plot.
Songbird, movie (2020) - Watch the trailer on YouTube
Watch the trailer in French - Watch the trailer in Spanish
video © Invisible Lark (Invisible Narratives)
Article updated: 2023.10.28
The Songbird (2020) is a futuristic drama film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Songbird, movie (2020)
Original title: Songbird
Series: -
Setting: near future alternate Earth
Product type: Film, ca. 1,5 hours, Genre: futuristic drama, Style: sci-fi, futuristic, drama, infection, pandemic
Release: 2020.12.11
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2021.02), first time
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Songbird, a futuristic drama movie from 2020. It's about a guy trying to save his girlfriend during a viral pandemic. The Songbird film isn’t interesting, I don't recommend it to anyone.
Songbird, movie (2020)
image © Invisible Lark (Invisible Narratives)
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Review (spoiler-free) - Songbird, movie (2020)
I've read about Songbird in a Cracked article, that raised my interest, so when I had the chance, I've watched it. I didn't watch the trailer before watching the movie, nor did I read anything else about it, beyond the mere concept.
The Songbird movie is about a guy trying to save his girlfriend during a viral pandemic.
The story is not very interesting. There are no character arcs. There are plenty logical problems. At the 1 hour mark I was bored, but I didn't want to feel I've wasted my time, so I continued watching the rest of it.
The cinematography is okay.
The movie was made for a wide screen.
The characters are empty. We don't get to know anything about them beyond very superficial information. We don't learn about their past or their goals, so it's not easy to feel sympathy towards them. The actors are okay, they portray these empty characters well.
The music (by Lorne Balfe) is not good, but it was okay. At least it wasn't loud, so it didn't distract me.
Songbird is a watchable futuristic drama, but I don’t think anyone would really enjoy it.
My experience
I wasn’t satisfied with Songbird (2020).
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Songbird is a weak film in every aspect.
Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points). I didn't like Songbird at all.
Rewatchability: Low. The story is not particularly interesting, and there’s nothing attractive in the movie.
Chance of watching it again: Nope.
Chance of watching a sequel: There’s a chance, but I’d wait for reviews.
Songbird, movie (2020)
image © Invisible Lark (Invisible Narratives)
Will you enjoy this?
If you like pandemic movies, you might like Songbird.
If you can get through the first half hour of the movie still interested, the rest of the Songbird film will be similar.
If you don't mind illogical elements in your movies, you can enjoy this.
If you prefer visuals over story, you should probably avoid Songbird.
If you hate romantic stories, Songbird is not for you.
If you hate pandemic movies, avoid Songbird.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in pandemic stories, it might worth watching the Songbird movie for the plot points, but you are probably better off just reading the summary.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
I think you’d get the same experience.
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Songbird, movie (2020)
image © Invisible Lark (Invisible Narratives)
Review with spoilers - Songbird, movie (2020)
I didn’t like the Songbird movie.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The trailer is okay, although it does spoil parts of the movie.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Songbird film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it may make the movie less interesting for you.
Promise of the first scene
There's some disaster that made the world empty. There's this courier guy who will probably be the protagonist. I wasn't sure about anything else.
Execution: The guy really was the protagonist, but otherwise I couldn't have predicted the final outcome. I consider this a weak fulfilment of the promise.
Plot summary / Synopsis
There's a courier guy (KJ Apa as Nico Price), who delivers packages in a city that is under lockdown due to a lethal virus, that kills 56% of the infected, usually in two days. The courier is immune to the virus, that's why he is able to travel around freely. He has a girlfriend (Sofia Carson as Sara Garcia) who has to stay in her home.
Those who are not immune are checked daily, and if they get infected, they haul the whole household into the Quarantine Zone, where they keep the sick people. We see the neighbour of the girl taken in a rude way, by the leader of the Sanitation Department (Peter Stormare as Emmett Harland).
The grandmother of the girl gets sick, so they are afraid that they both will be taken the next day.
The courier tries to get immunity passes to them, so they could evade inspection to flee the city. Although these immunity passes are just yellow bracelets that could be forged easily, for an unspecified reason he intends to get them a proper one.
The courier contacts a fixer, who sends him to an address. There's the leader of the Sanitation Department that waits for him, and he stabs the courier instead of giving him bracelets. The wounded courier runs away. In the meantime, the grandma of the girl dies.
The courier breaks into the house of the fixer, trying to find some immunity passes. The wife (Demi Moore as Piper Griffin) of the fixer finds him, holds him at gunpoint, but in the end she gives the courier one bracelet, with proper codes.
When the Sanitation team arrives, the girl takes a photo of their truck. The Sanitation workers breaks into the home of the girl, and try to take her. The girl knocks out one of the workers, gets into his suit, pretends to be a Sanitation worker, then tries to run away, just to get caught. She is told that she is immune, otherwise she would already feel the symptoms.
The courier gets to the home of the girl, where the leader of the Sanitation team is sitting, playing solitaire. After a short conversation, the courier kills the leader. He checks the phone of the girl, finds a photo of a Sanitation truck, so he deduces somehow that the girl is in that specific truck. He asks an acquaintance to help him find that truck with his flying drone. He finds it, the courier gets to the Quarantine Zone, just in time to be able to slip the bracelet to the girl. When the soldiers see that she has an immunity pass, they let her go.
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There's also a storyline about a singer girl (Alexandra Daddario as May), who is probably also a sex worker by the amount of erotic stuff she has. She is forced into providing free sexual services to the fixer (Bradley Whitford as William Griffin), who promises to provide work for the girl at a record company, as a singer. After a while she refuses to continue this relationship, so she asks for a friend (Paul Walter Hauser as Michael Dozer) for help. That friend pilots a weaponised drone to her home, and shoots the fixer dead.
The setting
It's near future Earth, 2024 (4 years after the release of the movie).
Songbird, movie (2020)
image © Invisible Lark (Invisible Narratives)
The pandemic
There's a pandemic (COVID-23) that started in 2023, but other reports say it's been 3 years since it started, so it's not clear in the movie.
The virus has a 56% mortality rate.
There were 8,400,000 deaths in 2024, but it's not specified if it was just in Los Angeles, in the USA, or around the world. I'm not sure when the events take place, but the filming happened in the summer, so let's say it's a death toll for half a year.
Compared to the SARS-CoV2 of the COVID-19, in 2020 there were 300,000 deaths in the USA, and 30,000 in California, with a 2% mortality rate. Let's take 1/3 away to make it half a year (as it started in March), and with 56% mortality, it would be 5,600,000 and 560,000 respectively, so I assume it's the USA, and it's slightly more spread than SARS-CoV2 is.
The alternate world is either more advanced or more prosperous.
They have given a camera+tablet entry system (100 USD) to every household, that includes a UV disinfection (500+ USD) airlock chamber (6,500 USD). They also gave them phones with thermal imaging hardware (200+ USD). (It's said that it's also able to scan the brain, but that's getting into utopistic territory, so I discredit this part.) Even if they get these for cheap, all of these cost about 7,300 USD for every single household. In 2020, there were 128.45 million of those in the USA. That means they have spent 940 billion on just these devices. That's about 1/5 more than our current yearly medicare expenditure.
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one. “Don’t get sick”?
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Songbird film are played in sequence, following the same storyline.
There's no single viewpoint character.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.
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Things I liked
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I haven't seen any movies of the pair of writers (Adam Mason & Simon Boyes), but seeing that this is not their first work, I don't think I'd be interested in anything else from them.
I haven't seen anything from the director (Adam Mason), but this is not a promising movie.
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Songbird, movie (2020)
image © Invisible Lark (Invisible Narratives)
Analysis of the story - Songbird, movie (2020)
I didn’t like the story, as there were so many problems that prevented me from enjoying Songbird.
Problematic elements
The title: Why is it Songbird? It is not explained, although I can come up with ideas:
- During the lockdown, they are like birds, kept in cages.
- The prostitute girl is visited for her beauty, and she is kept in her home, as if it were a cage.
Update: One of the producers, Adam Goodman, said in an interview, that the movie is "called ‘Songbird’ [because] is it’s about hope. It’s about resilience. It’s about the strength of the human spirit.” I never would have guessed that. I'm still not entirely sure that he got that right.
Immunity: It's only the very special immune people who can leave their homes. So they are the most special resource now, as they are the ones who make deliveries. Yet, they are treated like current day couriers both by their employers and their customers. This doesn't really makes sense.
Yellow bracelets: Wearing a yellow bracelet shows the wearer is immune. Showing in to guards at a distance lets you through cordons. Creating a yellow bracelet is not rocket science - anyone could just wear one, to pass any cordon. If there were some kind of electronic signal in the passes that could be checked by the guards at a distance, that would be efficient.
Procedure: When the Department of Sanitation arrives, they don't even bother with proper procedure. They just kick the door in, and storm the home of their target. This wouldn't be a problem in a post-apocalyptic world, but the neighbours still have their cameras, they have access to the internet, so they can show the whole world live what is happening. Until the government switches the phones and the internet off, those Sanitation workers will behave well, otherwise they'll get fired.
Infection: If people cannot leave their homes, how are they getting infected?
The hardware: The leader of the Sanitation workers ask the girl whether they've left the flat. As the Department of Sanitation installed a camera system with tablets, and a UV chamber to exchange goods, and these are pretty expensive. It would be very easy - and cheap, compared to the previous tech - to add some hardware that checks whether the door was opened, or an IR sensor that checks whether somebody left the place. This way they could be sure, instead of trusting the word of strangers.
I have a hunch that the creators don't really know how much does it cost to install such a device in every single apartment all around the whole United States. If the government has that much money to spend, I don't think they would go cheap on the quarantine zones.
Temperature test: The premise is that there's a temperature test every morning. If the test shows a fever, the person and everyone else in that flat is taken to the Quarantine Zone, meaning they get closed in with infected people without any separation.
First, even a bad tooth can cause fever, so almost everybody would be taken into the quarantine sooner or later.
Second, it would take a couple of minutes for someone to check whether that person has that specific infection, or it's something else that causes the fever.
Third, with an 56% fatality rate and an airborne virus, most of population is already dead, and that means there's plenty of empty buildings to use. They could put people in their own houses if they wish. (Edit: They are able to scan the brain with a mobile phone (or a very similar device they gave to every household). The scanner shows that the virus have affected the brain.)
Collecting the infected: If there's no cure and the infected will die in 2 days any way, why don't the Sanitation crew just bolts the door, and leave them some extra dose of painkillers? Why do they bother with hauling the residents out before they are finished?
The attack: The Sanitation leader attacking the courier guy was just plain stupid, unless he had a death wish. He couldn't know whether he'll be able to stab him. He couldn't know whether the courier had weapons. He couldn't predict that the courier won't follow up the beating with beating him to death.
Attacking the worker: The girl hits one of the Sanitation workers, gets into his suit, then runs away. There are armed soldiers looking to protect them. I'm pretty sure they won't let her out of their sight, and if she left, they'd notice and report it.
The girl doesn't even hide the body of the worker. How come the multiple workers didn't find the body in a minute max, in a relatively small apartment?
The patient leader: Why does the Sanitation leader stays in the home of the girl? Doesn't he have better things to do?
After he sees the courier guy he tried to kill earlier, why does he just start a conversation? Also, the courier guy, when he see the man who tried to kill him, why does he just talk to him, instead of running, or better yet, hitting him with something?
Photo: Why did the girl take a photo of the Sanitation truck with his phone? Why does the courier guy check the photos on her phone before leaving? How does he know that she's taken the photo of that specific truck that will bring her to the quarantine? (Because it's probably not the one that was standing in front of their house, as she got at least a couple of blocks away when running into a Sanitation truck.)
How does the courier guy know it was his boss who told the woman that he is at her house? (Especially as this didn't need to be told to her, as she has met the courier in her house.)
Careless soldiers: Why did the soldiers let the girl go? She tried to evade being inspected, obstructed procedure, assaulted an emergency worker, stole his uniform, used his stolen uniform to create a false identity... All of these show me that she's going to spend a couple of months in jail.
If it's because of the immunity pass - the Sanitation workers already knew that she is immune, so it's no surprise to them. They also knew that there was no bracelet on the girl when she was put on the truck, so the whole magic trick was pointless.
The weapon: The courier guy, who killed the Sanitation leader, then left the killer weapon with his fingerprints at the scene, will probably spend a couple of years in another jail, so it's far from being a happy end.
Singer storyline: What was the point of the sex worker / singer girl storyline? It didn't lead anywhere, and just took up time in an already boring movie.
Drones: In the movie we see that couriers are a precious accommodation, because only the immune people can get out on the streets. We also see that there are drone pilots, who can fly above the city. It would be logical that those people, who are not immune, could fly those drones to deliver the same packages a human courier can. There are more people stuck in their homes, needing a way to earn some cash than there are immune people.
Unanswered questions
- What will happen to the characters after the movie ends?
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Possibilities of improvement
- Cut the parts where the girl tries to get away. She is captured again in a matter of minutes, so it's just a detour anyway.
- Cut the scenes with the singer girl. Those doesn't lead anyway, and won't be missed from the story.
- Cut most of the scenes about the family of the fixer. Those are mostly just stuffing, that do not go anywhere.
- After their embrace, include a narration about the time the pair spends in the jail, telling that "by the time the courier guy got out of the prison, the pandemic was over for a long time, but the girl still waited for him, after she got out of prison". And then cut to them, riding that bike near the shore, so we can get some closure.
How it could have been better?
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Songbird, movie (2020)
image © Invisible Lark (Invisible Narratives)
Uses for the film - Songbird, movie (2020)
Plot
- There's a world-wide, very lethal pandemic.
- The government is efficient, they've set up a medical system to fight against the pandemic. It works a lot more efficient than the one we had seen in 2020.
- The government has installed devices at every home that allows the inhabitants to have video-chats through the door, and to disinfect everything they get, or send, through an UV chamber. They also give phones with thermal imaging and brain scanning abilities.
Scenes
- The scenes of empty streets could be used for any kind of near-future apocalyptic scenario.
Designs
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
Quarantine team: The team is hired during a pandemic to bring potentially infected people to quarantine centres, so a medical team can examine them. Their employer get reports about potential targets. These reports can come from neighbours, or from infection scanners, based on your setting.
The team has to find the address, given to them. They have to make a cursory inspection, whether the target person really has a chance to be infected. If their test is positive, they have to bring that person and those who they share their flat with, to the quarantine centre, and escort them until they can leave them with the doctors who will inspect them.
The team gets protective gear from the employer. They are not allowed to use weapons, but they can still bring their own weapons, and deal with the consequences later. In case of high-tech setting, they can get body-cams, so their employers can monitor their work.
The team meets with hostility by a minority of their targets. They have something to hide in their homes. They have barricaded themselves, so the team has to break in. They refuse to be inspected. They refuse to be taken to the quarantine centre. They want to steal the protective gear the team has. They believe that the team members are aliens who want to abduct them, and act accordingly. Sometimes the team has to use patience, sometimes intelligent tactics, sometimes aggressive methods, so they can complete their tasks.
Lockdown variant: Nobody can leave their homes. When the inspection is done, or when the time the patients had to spend in the quarantine is over, the team has to escort the people back to their homes.
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Quarantine fight: There's a lethal pandemic. A building was found contaminated, some of the inhabitants are infected. One team is the group of medical workers who wish to get the inhabitants into a quarantine zone, so they can examine and treat them. The other team is the inhabitants, who refuse to be taken, and they want to escape. The medical team has non-lethal, but also lethal weapons. They can only use lethal weapons if they are approached by inhabitants wielding lethal weapons. Some of the inhabitants have lethal weapons, but most of them only have improvised weapons, counting as clubs. There are at least 2 exits. There's a 20 cm area around the building - if the inhabitants can leave this zone, they have escaped. If the medical team escorts or hauls an inhabitant to an escape zone, they are considered captured. If the inhabitants have more escaped members than captured one, they win. If the medical team captures more, they win.
Most inhabitants start the game individually in their own homes.
The medical team starts at the exit points.
Random inhabitants: The players controls part of the inhabitants, but the others are moving randomly.
In-house fighting: During the lockdown, the inhabitants split into rival groups, separating into different parts of the building. When the medical team arrives, they decide it's time for a showdown, and start killing each other, while also trying to escape the medical team. This is a good way to play the scenario with more than two players, but the medical team might be also controlled by an AI system, moving the medical team members towards the closest inhabitant to handle.
Multi-level building: There are multiple floors. There's also the roof. There's a fire escape stair on one of the sides of the building that can be reached through every upper level, and that can be used as an exit.
Infection: It would be interesting to add the spreading of infection into the game. Randomly selected inhabitants have the infection, and are carriers. If other inhabitants get into the same room as a carrier, and spend one turn there, they also get infected, but they don't become further carriers. It probably works better with the Random inhabitants variant, and only the randomly moved people are carriers. Carriers could be spotted, as they visibly show signs of the infection. If a carrier enters the room, the inhabitants have 1 turn to escape or to kill the carrier.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Civilians: Human-sized (S3) modern (advanced) human female / male civilian.
Sanitation crew: Human-sized modern humans in biohazard suits.
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Similar stories - Songbird, movie (2020)
Movies
Contagion (2011): People get infected during a pandemic. Contagion is more action oriented.
Containment (2015): People are quarantined (in a block of flats) to stop a pandemic from spreading. Containment is more action oriented.
Outbreak (1995): People are quarantined (in a small town), to stop a pandemic from spreading. Outbreak is more action oriented.
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Frequently asked questions - Songbird, movie (2020)
Is the Songbird film based on a book or comics?
No, Songbird is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Songbird film a remake or reboot?
No, the Songbird film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Songbird? Does Songbird have end credit scenes?
No, there's no post credit scene in Songbird.
Is Songbird worth watching?
Nope. Songbird is not worth watching, at least not in the current cut. It's boring, and most of the story doesn't make sense.
What is the plot of Songbird?
Songbird's plot is about a guy who gets in trouble because of his girlfriend during a pandemic lockdown. For a longer version, read the Plot summary / Synopsis section.
What rating is Songbird?
Songbird is PG-13 in the USA. But I don't recommend it to any age group.
Where can I see Songbird? What is Songbird playing on? What streaming service is Songbird on? Where can I watch Songbird online? Is Songbird available on Netflix? Is Songbird on Amazon?
As of 2022.01.19, Songbird is available on multiple platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Microsoft Movies, Netflix, Vudu, YouTube.
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Resources - Songbird, movie (2020)
Official
Songbird: Official website.
Information
IMDB: Songbird (II) (2020): Database article.
WikiPedia: Songbird (2020 film): Database article.
Letterboxd: Songbird 2020: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Songbird 2020: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Songbird film (2020)
: Review video about the Songbird film with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Songbird film (2020)
: Review article of the Songbird movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Songbird movie (2020)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Songbird.¤
https://thecinemaholic.com/songbird-ending-explained/
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https://parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/songbird
Keith Hawkes (for Parent Previews): Songbird Parent Guide: Review article with no spoilers. Includes parental guide.
https://mamasgeeky.com/2020/12/songbird-movie-review.html
Mama's Geeky: Songbird Movie Review: Too Realistic or Over The Top?: Review article with no spoilers.
https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/10/22166499/songbird-review-michael-bay-covid-thriller
http://moviefreak.com/songbird-2020-movie-review/
https://www.thewrap.com/songbird-film-review-kj-apa-covid-michael-bay/
https://24.hu/kultura/2020/10/30/songbird-michael-bay-film-trailer-elozetes-kj-apa-sofia-carson/
https://sgsonfilm.net/2021/01/31/review-songbird-2020/
https://www.dudeiwatchedthat.com/2020/12/songbird-2020-movie-review-idiotic.html
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Buying the product - Songbird, movie (2020)
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Have you seen the Songbird film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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