Is “BIRDEATER” (2025) An Edge Of Your Seater? (REVIEW)

Australian horror movies are making a significant impact on North American audiences. They are doing so by masterfully infusing the genre with a raw, grounded, and culturally distinct perspective that draws genre fans in. Horror movies like “The Babadook”, and “Wolf Creek” blend psychological depth with the foundation of creating an atmosphere of pure isolation and tension. It will resonate with horror movie fans deeply making these horror movies quickly become fan favorites. These particular horror movies have a way of challenging the average horror movie tropes simply by focusing on a mix of character-driven narratives, with a dash of social commentary that offers a somewhat fresher approach to the world of terror and suspense. Because of this, Australian horror is building upon the immensely growing horror genre for the average American horror fan by pushing frightening boundaries and taking charge by inspiring a new shift towards an intensely emotional complex of how a horror movie is told.  

Recently we here at Macabre Daily donned our travel gear and headed to the Australian woods for the new psychological thriller “Birdeater”. This movie is written/directed by Jack Clark, co-directed by Jim Weir, and produced by Stephanie Troost, as well as Ulysses Oliver. The movie stars Mackenzie Fearnley, Shabana Azeez, Ben Hunter, Jack Bannister, Clementine Anderson, Allie Gledhill, Harley Wilson and Caroline McQuade. The synopsis for this movie is as follows:

“A bride-to-be is invited to join her fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare.”

“Birdeater” has the potential to be an intensely psychological Australian horror movie that could double as a frightening drama, but unfortunately it falls flat. It has a foundation of being something that will stick with you and mess with your mind by tackling some harsh themes of toxic masculinity, and strong emotional manipulation and shows you just how fragile love can be. You would think that all these powerful emotions would make for something that would keep you on the edge of your seat, but it ends up turning into a 2-hour run time that makes you question what exactly is going on within the storyline with its confusing multiple plot points and attempted twists.

The storyline follows Louie (portrayed by Mackenzie Fearnley) and his girlfriend Irene (portrayed by Shabana Azeez) as they find themselves wading through a thick mess of confusion and a toxic dynamic. This is all due to Louie’s unconventional attempt at a surprise wedding and bachelor party set in a remote Australian wood (which is a beautiful landscape and may be the best part of the movie).

The landscape itself is almost like a character on its own. The way it is used to provide an environment for isolation (both physically and mentally) is probably the only enjoyable part of the film. It is so secluded, beautiful, and menacing, having the ability to raise tension between all the characters quite well. It’s effective because it adds a sense of claustrophobia that increases as the night progresses, with an intimate and expansive setting that amplifies all of the character's conflicts.

Unfortunately, the storyline for “Birdeater” is all over the place. The art-house silent montages over verbal substance, goofy antics that quickly jump into intense arguments, and for some reason a naked woman dancing in the woods after Louie is blindfolded in a drug-fueled state of mind due to his friends. Not to mention the fact that we are supposed to believe that all the couples in this movie are actual couples, yet there is no chemistry on screen between any of the actors. This could be due to them trying to build upon that when the story gets intense, but it just isn’t executed well.

Mackenzie Fearnley does his best to deliver a layered performance as Louie by balancing his character’s insecurities about his relationship and his overbearing control of his girlfriend, as well as trying to show some moments of vulnerability. It is hard to nail down a character’s struggle and overall character arc when the story itself doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Shabana Azeez is one of the most enjoyable parts of the movie as her performance as Irene does show a greatly strong counterbalance of her quiet manner and the way she commands her character’s resilience among the chaos of the story and the chaos of a movie that doesn’t seem to know what it is doing.

As unfortunate as the story is, it is unfortunate that the ensemble cast is kind of pushed to the side and then suddenly shoved in the spotlight in a way to drive the plot further. They do try their best but there is so much jumping through hoops to be comedic, serious, and mentally unnerving that they don’t come together cohesively.

Sure, their presence is there to stir the pot by forcing suppressed emotions from Irene and guiding them to the surface, but it just doesn’t click well as a viewer. It starts with them going from a casual conversation between friends and is forced to evolve into a series of explosive arguments, while each of the characters is set to reveal some hidden secrets as the night progresses. Most movies make sure that these transitions are swiftly done (especially during the second act of the movie) but “Birdeater” wants to put its own twist on it without putting the proper effort into making sure the movie will be enjoyable.

At the end of the day “Birdeater” is a movie that wants to stand out among the norm of psychological thrillers, but fails to do so by tacking on art-house style cinematography with wisecracking dialogue, and not as much emphasis placed on the narrative.

“Birdeater” from Darksky Films will be in theaters and available on digital platforms on January 10th. Stay tuned to Macabre Daily for all things horror and the in-depth horror reviews you need to read.

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