The home in which a person is raised can have a strong effect on building character. Positive role models and attentive parents may produce a child who is well-behaved and capable, though potentially less used to doing things on their own if too much is done for them. When there isn’t someone who is putting the needs of a child above their own, it’s up to the child to figure out how best to survive and how to take care of themselves. Andrea Arnold’s Bird tells an enthralling story of one young girl who has always needed to fend for herself and isn’t about to let anyone tell her what to do.

Bailey (Nykiya Adams) hops on the back of her father’s scooter to ride through the streets with loud music blaring the whole time. Bud (Barry Keoghan) has a surprise for his twelve-year-old daughter: he’s getting married on Saturday, and his new wife got his bridesmaids, who are apparently to include Bailey, matching catsuits for the ceremony. Not at all pleased with this news, Bailey lashes out and runs away, meeting a mysterious man named Bird (Franz Rogowski) searching for hints of his past that a frustrated but determined Bailey may be uniquely capable of helping him to find.

Arnold has proven herself a formidable ally of young actresses with films like Fish Tank and American Honey, and Adams, in her film debut, is simply extraordinary. She has so much personality, evident in her first meeting with Bird, which finds her taking out her phone and filming him to make sure he won’t hurt her, and then responding standoffishly just to try to retain control of the situation when he simply dances for the camera instead of doing anything threatening. Bailey is dealing with things way beyond what a twelve-year-old should have to encounter, and Adams is more than up for the task of portraying this headstrong, plucky character.

Keoghan has had a few great years with The Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn, and this is his most audacious turn yet. Covered in tattoos all over his body snaking up to his face, Bud is first seen riding shirtless on the scooter and spends most of his time trying to get a turtle to do what he wants so that he can use it for his next get-rich-quick scheme. The love he has for his daughter is rarely shown in the best way, but it is there, sometime exhibited through loud public threats to kill her if she doesn’t listen and occasionally through actual affection that doesn’t seem very much on-brand for the father of three whose oldest was born when he was just fourteen.

If Bailey’s home life, which involves her waking up to deafening music each morning, doesn’t feel all that stable, it’s far better than the alternative, which is her mother’s house, where her three younger siblings all live. Random strangers sit on the couch doing drugs and her mom’s new boyfriend has more aggression and capacity for cruelty than Bud could ever muster. There’s a darkness that underlines that situation, contrasted by the nurturing kindness Bailey exhibits towards her siblings and the sweetness of Bud, who says just enough to indicate that he believes in right and wrong but otherwise remains an enigma.

There is a magic to Bird that doesn’t manifest itself as entirely supernatural but feels more up to the viewer to determine whether or not it’s real. Beautifully shot by Arnold’s American Honey cinematographer Robbie Ryan, the way this film plays with distance and urban space is particularly compelling. Adams is an undeniable breakout, Keoghan is as good as ever, and Rogowski, recently seen in Passages and Great Freedom, is perfectly cast as a gentle soul whose true identity doesn’t matter all that much because of the calming effect he has on Bailey. Arnold has done it again, delivering a masterful, beautiful film about growing up too fast.

Grade: A-

Check out more of Abe Friedtanzer’s articles.

Bird makes its Canadian premiere in the Special Presentations section at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and will be released at a later date by MUBI.