Songbird is a 2020 American sci-fi exploitation thriller inspired by the contemporary COVID-19 Pandemic. The film is directed by Adam Mason, produced by Michael Bay, and stars KJ Apa, Sofia Carson, Craig Robinson, Bradley Whitford, Peter Stormare, Alexandra Daddario, Paul Walter Hauser, and Demi Moore.
By the year 2024, the COVID-19 virus has mutated into an even more virulent form known as COVID-23 and has claimed well over 110 million lives worldwide. In the U.S., the situation has become so dire that those infected are placed in concentration camps known as "Q-Zones" (short for "quarantine zone") where they are left to die from the virus. The story centers on Nico Price (Apa), a motorbike messenger living in Los Angeles with an immunity to the virus. He is in a virtual relationship with Sara Garcia (Carson), a young artist living with her grandmother Lita (Elpidia Carrillo) whose lockdown prohibits them from any physical contact, and works for a man named Lester (Robinson), who specializes in delivering packages to wealthy individuals.
One day, Lita begins to show symptoms of COVID-23, forcing the L.A. sanitation department, led by Emmett Harland (Stormare), to take her away to the Q-Zone - and Sara with her, despite the latter's protestations of immunity. It's now up to Nico to rescue his beloved and break her out of the facility.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Shot in 2020, the story takes place in 2024.
- Chekhov's Gun: Nico gives Sara some pencils that he took from the office that he used to work at. He later uses one of the pencils he took to kill Harland.
- Delicate and Sickly: One of Lester's biggest clients is the Griffin family, whose youngest daughter Emma suffers from an autoimmune disorder.
- Dressing as the Enemy: When Harland and his men arrive at Sara's apartment to detain her, she knocks out one of them and steals his hazmat suit before escaping the building.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Emmett Harland was a garbage man when suddenly all of his superiors began dying. Then sanitation was made the governing law and he was in power.
- Ironic Echo: Harland says, "It's nice to know there's something out there that still can kill you." when talking to Nico about his smoking. Nico says almost verbatim the same thing after killing Harland by stabbing him with a pencil.
- Riding into the Sunset: The film concludes with Nico and Sara, having exposed the Griffins' counterfeit immunity bracelet scheme, riding up the Pacific Coast Highway.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The film is explicitly themed around the COVID-19 virus with a severe slant towards anti-quarantine measures.
- Word Salad Title: Director Adam Mason said that the movie is called Songbird because it is one of his favorite Oasis songs, but the title of the movie/the word Songbird has nothing to do with the movie, and the song is not featured in the movie.
