The Thing with Feathers - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Thing With Feathers



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

​

Movie
Book to movie adaptations are always a tricky subject, and when a film goes awry it seems that the audience can harp on a few different things. It’s either not faithful enough and off purists, or it’s too faithful and audiences can argue that it was just a cheap copy of the original work. But the reality is, films can be both brutally faithful, or make great changes under the guise of artistic license, but it really comes down to the decision they make in terms of adapting that make or break something like this. And lets face it, Dylan Southern’s take on “Grief is the thing with Feathers” just doesn’t work that well.

Based off of Max Porter’s 2015 novel that I mentioned above, we get a story starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a widower drowning in his own grief, attempting to take care of two young sons alone while grappling with the aftermath of his wife’s death. Benedict’s character (who is just labeled “Dad” in the credits) does his best to both work and deal with his children, but they seem to be afflicted by the curse of a mysterious crow (voiced by David Thewlis), who stalks the family day and night, whispering provocative and disturbing things to them all. He comes in and hangs out with the boys during the day, terrorizing the Dad at night as he attempts to drown out his sorrows, and block out the crow’s constant whispering.

On one hand the crow seems to be a sign of mental illness, or a terrifying spiritual entity out to torture them. Yet at the same time the Crow’s whisperings hold deeper nuggets of truth that make you wonder if he’s actually helping the family too. The story is sort of split up, with certain sections dealing with the Dad, then the children, and finally the Crow and his perspective, each giving a different element to why the Crow is here and what his mission is.

Part melodrama, part supernatural thriller, The Thing with Feathers is a movie that just doesn’t hit the mark that often. I genuinely like what they did with many aspects of the tale, but it just feels incomplete. And that really could fall on the shoulders of director/writer Dylan Southern (who is mostly known for music videos and rockumentaries). The book was originally adapted back in 2019 as a broadway play by Enda Walsh, starring Cillian Murphy. But Southern attempted to adapt the book himself, ignoring the award winning play and trying his own hand at it. The end result is a movie that doesn’t have enough meat on the bones, and ends up skipping several different plot points in the book that really flesh out WHO and WHY the crow is there. Something that is left much more mysterious in the movie.

The saving grace of the film is Benedict Cumberbatch himself, who gives an award winning effort at keeping this project afloat, even with everything sinking around him. Thewlis is solid as the practical effect Crow, and the boys do a decent job, but this is really Benedict himself acting as Atlas and keeping the entirety of the movie afloat on his broad shoulders.




Rated R for language and some bloody violent content




Video:

While the movie is not great, the 1.33:1 framed AVC encode is spectacular. You know movies where the mood and the visuals pretty much make or break it? Well, this is one of those flicks, and the visuals are stunning. The Lighting, the dark mood, and the grim practical effects (I’m 99% sure that the Crow is done practically, or if there is any CGI, it is simply used to enhance a line here or there) and the FX just pop off the screen at every corner. Fine details are generally very good, even though the film is steeped in heavy ambers and dark shadowy black levels. I saw a flicker of noise here or there, but otherwise this is a really pleasant and VERY atmospheric looking image.








Audio:

Similarly, the audio mix is delightfully immersive and intense in ways that make the film slightly better, in spite of the narrative issues. The 5.1 mix almost takes on a personna of it’s own, using crisp, sharp confrontations with the crew, as well as the somber music that drives the film’s pace forward. The more melodrama elements have the bass and the surrounds fading into the background, but in some of the intense confrontations with the psychedelic bird we get a more rich and robust sound environment.










Extras:

•

Final Score: ​

As someone who hasn’t read the original novel for many years, I still found the movie a bit lackluster. It took many of the visual elements and horror bits to craft the film, but left out some of the major reveals that really emphasize not only WHAT, but WHY the crow was brought into existence for the story. Let alone stripping out the Ted Hughes connection that actually gave the original story its purpose and heart. But hey, most people haven’t read the book and grading the film based simply on the merits of being a good/bad movie, it still falls a bit short of being that good. It’s not a bad movie, but not one I’d go out of my way to recommend either. It just simply “is”, if you know what I mean. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, but extras are sadly lacking.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Sam Spruell, David Thewlis
Directed by: Dylan Southern
Written by: Dylan Southern, Max Porter
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Universal Studios
Rated: R
Runtime: 98 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 27th, 2025

Recommendation: Skip It.