Earthquake Bird

Name: Earthquake Bird
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Crime
Released: November 1, 2019
Duration: 107 min
Rating: 51
Cast: Akiko Iwase, Alicia Vikander, Chiaki Kawamo, Crystal Kay, Jack Huston

2019

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Ratings

See All

5.9

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5.9	Your Score
5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Earthquake Bird

Now Playing: Earthquake Bird

Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: November 1, 2019 | R

Starring: Akiko Iwase, Alicia Vikander, Chiaki Kawamo, Crystal Kay, Jack Huston, Kazuhiro Muroyama, Ken Yamamura, Kenichi Masuda, Kenta Ogawa, Kiki Sukezane, Naoki Kobayashi, Naomi Urushibara, Niclas Ericsson, Riley Keough, Yoshiko Sakuma, Yurino

Summary: Lucy Fly (Alicia Vikander) is an enigmatic ex-pat haunted by a painful past, who enters into an intense relationship with Teiji (Naoki Kobayashi), a handsome yet similarly troubled local photographer. Lucy’s imperturbable exterior begins to crack when a naive newcomer, Lily Bridges (Riley Keough), becomes entangled in their lives and endsLucy Fly (Alicia Vikander) is an enigmatic ex-pat haunted by a painful past, who enters into an intense relationship with Teiji (Naoki Kobayashi), a handsome yet similarly troubled local photographer. Lucy’s imperturbable exterior begins to crack when a naive newcomer, Lily Bridges (Riley Keough), becomes entangled in their lives and ends up missing - suspected dead.… Expand

Director: Wash Westmoreland

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 107 min

See All Details and Credits

More You Might Like

Equals

Lucía, Lucía

Bad Education

The Pelican Brief

The Postman Always Rings Twice

Watch Now

Stream On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Karen Han

Nov 25, 2019

All three leads are terrific — especially Vikander, whose Japanese is impressive — but they’re working with material that doesn’t measure up to their talents. Read full review

Fionnuala Halligan

Oct 26, 2019

Everyone here appears to be revelling in the juicy opportunities Earthquake Bird brings to hit up our memories of everything from Fatal Attraction to Single White Female. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Nov 19, 2019

But even if this film of a Susanna Jones novel makes a middling whodunit, it’s still a fine vehicle for Vikander, an actress of quiet reserve and inner fury. She and the exotic setting lift Earthquake Bird, even if it never fully takes flight. Read full review

Robert Abele

Oct 31, 2019

Try as he might, Westmoreland can’t muster the same portraiture skills with a woman of mystery and brokenness that he’s shown with bold, expressive types (“Still Alice,” “Colette”). Read full review

Kristy Puchko

Nov 14, 2019

Netflix's Earthquake Bird is a not particularly engaging thriller featuring an inert performance from Alicia Vikander. Read full review

Glenn Kenny

Nov 7, 2019

For all its consideration, while Earthquake Bird adds up to a “real” movie, it’s too polite to add up to an entirely compelling one. Read full review

William Bibbiani

Nov 4, 2019

It’s almost a romantic melodrama, but it’s emotionally inert. It’s almost a biting statement about cultural appropriation, but it barely shows its fangs. It’s almost a murder mystery, but it abandons the plot for vast periods of time. It’s almost a good film except, no, that’s really stretching it. At its best it’s an unfocused plod. Read full review

SEE ALL 12 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

gman1001

Nov 13, 2019

The film is a great study of the Alicia Vikander character (Lucy), a woman who in the past suffered a great tragedy and moved to the other side of the world to escape it. Forget a generic 'thriller,' this picture offers something much more, but this 'much more' cannot but bring furtherThe film is a great study of the Alicia Vikander character (Lucy), a woman who in the past suffered a great tragedy and moved to the other side of the world to escape it. Forget a generic 'thriller,' this picture offers something much more, but this 'much more' cannot but bring further tension and danger into Lucy's life. A great picture in glorious Cinemascope - see it on a big screen if you can.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Ioannisp3rakis

Nov 17, 2019

..Like a book or every scene of a page, where behind is always hidden the truth ' like the earthquake so you will feel watching it!!

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Skananna

Nov 18, 2019

Goodsjejsjeidjiddjfjjfifndjfjfjfj de be shejenej bew we eje the app but it’s eei

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

bfoore90

Nov 17, 2019

Alicia Vikander and Riley Keough are fantastic in this weird but oddly put together thriller

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

JumpCut_Online

Dec 4, 2019

Sadly, the actors are let down somewhat by the pace and structure of the film, which could have been a Mulholland Drive-esque surreal erotic thriller, but instead the lengthy scenes of the rainy streets of Tokyo will leave viewers feeling more damp than wet.

A brilliant soundtrack bySadly, the actors are let down somewhat by the pace and structure of the film, which could have been a Mulholland Drive-esque surreal erotic thriller, but instead the lengthy scenes of the rainy streets of Tokyo will leave viewers feeling more damp than wet.

A brilliant soundtrack by Atticus Ross helps add to the tension and the cinematography by Chung Hoon Chung is simply gorgeous, all of which means The Earthquake Bird is definitely worth viewing. However, the somewhat muddled narrative and overly long running time mean the film never really lives up to its potential and it never becomes more than a sum of its parts.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Dec 1, 2019

Earthquake Bird is an interesting, cryptic and enigmatic film that unfortunately fell short of quality to respond to its own ambitions.

The mystery is good. We have Lucy Fly (Alicia Vikander) A British woman living in Japan trying to start a life away from the problems of her past life -Earthquake Bird is an interesting, cryptic and enigmatic film that unfortunately fell short of quality to respond to its own ambitions.

The mystery is good. We have Lucy Fly (Alicia Vikander) A British woman living in Japan trying to start a life away from the problems of her past life - which are explained later - But now she's involved in the disappearance of her friend Lily Bridges ( Riley Keough), who is also a foreigner.
The crux of the matter is that Lily disappeared and Lucy was the last person to see her and everything gets more complicated when it's assumed that Lily was murdered and maybe Lucy is the murderer.

To be honest that sounds pretty good but ... and here is the big flaw: That's not the center point of the plot.
It doesn't stop being intriguing because of it but as you progress through the story with all the flashbacks that begin to make sense of the narrative, you begin to understand that you have to unravel the mystery in another way and in all honesty, it wasn't that good.

At some point it remind me of Burning for the dramatic/sexual triangle that develops between the three central characters but despite having the same sobriety in tone, Earthquake Bird lacks the necessary psychological charge to get you fully into the tale and the lethargy of the plot doesn't help. No doubt this film is for viewers with enough patience, especially since the film never delivers a great plot twist or a truly stimulating moment with the exception of a key scene near the end that causes more questions than answers.

This movie is more a kind of analogy and metaphor rather than an intrigue and that ends up undermining the final result because the story was announced as something else.
I admit that it made me interested in getting the book because I feel the story - if it had no changes - will be more comprehensive and complete in a book.

Very irregular. You will not be indifferent to it but I think you will not be satisfied either.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

HMF_47

Nov 28, 2019

Alicia Vikander and Naoki Kobayashi have the most astonishing lack of onscreen chemistry since Daniel Craig and Lea Seydoux in Spectre.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 8 REVIEWS