After a few years making documentaries and television, filmmaker Andrea Arnold returns to her narrative roots and back to the United Kingdom for her latest film, Bird, starring newcomer Nykiya Adams, Academy Award nominee Barry Keoghan and acclaimed German actor Franz Rogowski.
A coming-of-age film set in the UK town of Gravesend, Bird follows Bailey (Adams), a preteen living with her free-wielding single father Bug (Keoghan). As Bailey attempts to find some sense of normalcy in her home life, she encounters a mysterious stranger (Rogowski) who is on a journey of his own.
Streaming exclusively on MUBI (get a 30-day free trial here), this fable-like tale introduces elements of the fantastical balanced with the gritty reality of those living on the fringes of society. As in her previous work, Arnold delivers Bailey's story with a tender understanding, buoyed by a tremendous breakthrough performance from Adams.
Bird's cast mixes some incredible emerging talent with the acclaimed and awarded, and, as the film makes its streaming debut, we're here to introduce some of the lesser-known members of the ensemble, and take a look at the familiar faces and where you've seen them before.
Nykiya Adams
Leading the film, Adams plays 12-year-old Bailey, a young girl navigating the transition from childhood to adolescence as best she can, given her circumstances. Bailey's a tender-hearted kid with a wild imagination and ferocity bubbling beneath the surface, ready to take on the world.
Where you've seen her before: Incredibly, Bird is Adams's debut acting performance. An avid student and athlete, Adams decided to audition for the film during an opening casting call at her school to get out of a design and technology class. Given the aptitude and natural skill she's shown in her portrayal of Bailey, we hope that Adams will be a name we continue to see in the years to come.
Barry Keoghan
Keoghan's Bug offers a more nuanced and layered approach to the "deadbeat father" archetype. Without a doubt, Bug brings a chaotic energy to the household that's objectively unhealthy for a young girl's environment. However, Bug also shows himself to be a devoted and loving father who tries his best, even though his best sometimes isn't enough.
Where you've seen him before: Keoghan's massive breakthrough came in 2017 with highly acclaimed starring roles in Yorgos Lanthimos's The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk. Since then, Keoghan has won a BAFTA and earned an Oscar nomination for his turn as Dominic in The Banshees of Inisherin, made a brief appearance as the Joker in Matt Reeves's The Batman, and starred alongside Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike in Emerald Fennell's Saltburn. Next year, Keoghan features in Christopher Andrews's Bring Them Down with Christopher Abbott, coming to theatres February 7.
Franz Rogowski
As the titular Bird, Rogowski's outsider brings curiosity to the film and Bailey's world. Embarking on his own journey, Bird suddenly appears in Bailey's life and tells her that he's in search of his family, asking for her help. Rogowski's performance is nothing short of sublime, lending the film a distinctive physicality that adds to Bird's magic.
Where you've seen him before: A revered and respected actor around the world, Rogowski has starred in critically acclaimed films like Undine, Transit and Luzifer. More recently, Rogowski led the Cannes-winning film Great Freedom as Hans Hoffmann, a man imprisoned in a West German concentration camp post-World War II for contravening Nazi anti-gay laws still in place. He was also in Ira Sachs's brilliant Passages, concerning a remarkable love triangle between Rogowski's Tomas, Ben Whishaw's Martin and Adèle Exarchopoulos's Agathe.
The older half-brother of Bailey, Jason Buda's Hunter belongs to a youth gang operating as neighbourhood vigilantes. Led by Hunter, the group's members don creepy-looking masks and exact revenge on wrongdoing locals by capturing them on camera and making their exploits go viral online.
Where you've seen him before: Another stunning debut performance, similar to Adams, Buda answered the call of an open audition at school. Initially cast in a smaller role, Buda's compelling performance impressed Arnold and the casting team so much that he was recast into the larger role of Hunter.
Photo: Sama Kai
Across town, Bailey goes to visit her mother Peyton, played by Jasmine Jobson, and half-sisters. For as helter-skelter as Bug's home seems, Bailey's visit to Peyton shows an entirely turbulent household filled with violence and uncomfortable tension. Peyton displays a softness towards Bailey, but also has a hollowness that imprisons her.
Where you've seen her before: Jobson has mostly made a name for herself in television, with a recurring role in Season 2 of the incredibly successful BBC series Noughts + Crosses, as well as starring in Netflix's Top Boy, for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the British Academy Television Awards earlier this year. In 2020, Jobson also starred in Molly Manning Walker's short film Good Thanks, You?, as a young woman dealing with the aftermath of a violent attack — a performance and film that earned both Jobson and Manning Walking high praise.
In contrast to Bug, James Nelson-Joyce's Skate, Peyton's current live-in partner, abuses Bailey's mother and sisters verbally, physically and emotionally. A man whose volatile nature creates an uneasy living situation, Skate terrifies Bailey, and also strengthens her resolve to stand up for herself and those she loves.
Where you've seen him before: Appearing in the BAFTA TV Awards-winning series Time, Nelson-Joyce has found success in television, including a supporting role in The Gold. In 2023, Nelson-Joyce starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Antony Starr in the adrenaline-inducing Guy Ritchie's The Covenant.
BIRD is now streaming exclusively on MUBI. Watch it and countless other iconic films with 30 days free.