The Coronavirus pandemic has changed the world as we know it this year, and it looks like it’ll be a long time yet before society returns to what used to be considered normality, if it even happens at all. At this stage, a lot of people are exhausted by the various rules, restrictions and regulations that have been put in place, but Michael Bay has come along and produced a movie that uses everyone’s misery as the basis for an action-heavy thriller.
Ironically, Songbird was originally scheduled for a big screen release, but the continued uncertainty surrounding the theatrical industry has seen it pulled from the calendar and sent straight to VOD, arriving on December 11th. Adam Mason directs with Bay’s Platinum Dunes handling production, and despite managing to shoot an entire movie during the height of a real-world pandemic, Songbird might hit a little too close to home for some audiences.
Set in 2024, COVID-19 has now mutated into COVID-23 and the world is in its fourth year of the global health crisis. The infected are taken from their homes and forced into what are essentially concentration camps for the sick, where they’re left to get better or die. An immune motorcycle courier played by KJ Apa is in love with an artist who isn’t allowed to make physical contact with anyone due to the lockdown, but when she becomes infected, he makes a desperate attempt to try and save her.
Of course, one thing Songbird does appear to have going for it is the fact it might well be the most tone-deaf movie of the year, which is to be expected from someone like Michael Bay, who hardly built his career or reputation on subtlety.