USA TODAY International Edition

‘Bird Box’ leaves viewers flying blind

Netflix currently has no sequel in the works to answer questions unanswered by Sandra Bullock thriller.

- USA TODAY Carly Mallenbaum

Spoiler alert! This story contains plot details for the Netflix sensation “Bird Box.”

The parakeets are chirping, and the world is wondering: Will we get a sequel to the meme-able hit “Bird Box”?

Netflix revealed that a recordbrea­king 45 million subscriber­s watched the post-apocalypti­c thriller in its first week of release, and Nielsen confirms that 26 million U.S. subscriber­s watched the movie in the same seven-day period. That’s a lot of fans who would be interested if the streaming service made another film inspired by Josh Malerman’s book about Malorie (Sandra Bullock), who escapes an ominous presence with the help of birds she tows in a box to alert her when danger is near.

Sadly, it probably isn’t happening, at least not soon: A person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about it says Netflix has no plans for a “Bird Box” sequel.

The movie ends with Malorie traversing rapids and swimming to safety with her two children and, as far as we know, safely finding refuge in a home for the blind. We may never learn what happens next, but we have many, many questions:

1. Is there a physical movie monster?

In the movie, dirty-suit creep Gary (Tom Hollander) has pictures that suggest the thing driving people to suicide is indeed a creature. He displays his psychotic pencil drawings that look like everything from the “Stranger Things” Mind Flayer to Tom Hardy’s CGI “Venom” face.

Malerman seems to suggest, however, that the evil being is invisible. This week, he jokingly tweeted a “figurine of the creatures” in “Bird Box,” with a photo of an empty toy package.

2. What makes everyone suicidal?

We know seeing is dying when it comes to the “Bird Box” baddie. But It’s unclear whether the malicious – we’ll call it a force? – infiltrates the brain.

The movie shows that people like Jessica (Sarah Paulson) are happily chatting about horses one moment and throwing themselves in front of speeding trucks the next. The film also makes it clear that victims tend to hear voices that aren’t there, and that insane people want others to be killed by the force (while being immune to it themselves).

That still doesn’t explain the aura’s (OK, we’re trying a variety of words) killing method.

3. How visually impaired must you be in order to avoid the evil?

The blind students seem safe from the evil, and a blindfolde­d Malorie (who can see light through her scarf) avoids harm. But what about someone with astigmatis­m? Can he escape death? How impaired must one be to not count as seeing?

A slight aside: Can’t children be raised without relying on their vision, even though they can see?

It seems that newborns Girl and Boy, who entered a world where using their eyeballs could lead to an untimely death, would be served well by spending a lot of time not opening their eyes. Visually impaired people have a good chance at developing keener senses of sound that would give them an advantage in a blindfolde­d “Bird Box” world over seeing folks.

They don’t need to be as capable as Daniel Kish, a real-life blind man who famously useshis own vocal clicks as echolocati­on to navigate the world, but it seems they could learn better techniques of moving around than just attaching themselves to rope (though that is also helpful).

4. Are the birds unique in their perception of the monster?

Malorie’s boxed birds serve as an indicator that evil is near, but we don’t know: one, whether birds are susceptibl­e to suicide; two, how they survived a journey that involved time spent in the freezer and water; and three, why they can sense the danger.

Also, are other animals good at alerting people that a monster is around? And what grocery stores actually sell live birds like the one in “Bird Box”?

5. How did Malorie and Tom (Trevante Rhodes) stay hot for five years of post-apocalypti­c life?

Malorie and Tom, RIP, look gorgeous with well-coiffed hair and toned bodies throughout the movie, all while seemingly surviving off nonperisha­ble foods. Perhaps there are added beauty benefits to narrowly escaping the evil force?

6. How much of Charlie’s (Lil Rel Howery) “endgame” blabber is true?

Before Charlie’s heroic death, the grocery store clerk tells his new housemates about extensive end-of-times research he did for a book he’s convenient­ly writing on the topic.

He describes an “entity that takes on the form of your worst fears: deepest sadness, greatest loss.” He also says that the evil makes “pregnant women encounter unborn children as other creatures such as lobsters or spiders.”

Were lobsters and spiders the shapes that Gary was drawing? Does the entity indeed take on the form of greatest loss? It seemed to for Douglas’ wife: She called out to her late mother before deliberate­ly walking into the flames of a burning car.

7. How did Malorie’s doctor find refuge?

Dr. Lapham (Parminder Nagra), Malorie’s OB-GYN, is (surprise!) at the Tucker School for the Blind that’s seemingly nowhere near her hospital when Malorie and her kids finally make it there, too. Did Dr. Lapham also ride rapids to get there? Did she have someone be the suicidal lookout as she rode those rapids? Did she decide to bypass the rapids entirely and not follow the advice of a voice on the phone who suggested she take the deadly rapids?

In other news: It would be nice to get an update on where Felix (Machine Gun Kelly) and Lucy (Rosa Salazar) ended up with their stolen car.

 ?? MERRICK MORTON/NETFLIX ??
MERRICK MORTON/NETFLIX
 ??  ?? Malorie (Sandra Bullock) struggles to find her way in “Bird Box.” NETFLIX
Malorie (Sandra Bullock) struggles to find her way in “Bird Box.” NETFLIX
 ??  ?? SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX“Bird Box” seems to leave part of the story untold.
SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX“Bird Box” seems to leave part of the story untold.

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