Thanks to the business model put forth by Netflix, the streaming service doesn’t have to play by the same rules as other studios. Netflix isn’t concerned about what might be a big box office hit when it greenlights a film. Instead, all that matters is that people click the button and play the film through its streaming platform. That’s why audiences are able to watch a film like the upcoming “Earthquake Bird.”
Normally, an erotic thriller about a twisted love triangle in Japan wouldn’t necessarily be the type of project that someone like Warner Bros. or Universal would finance and distribute and make sure that some major acting talents are involved. But for “Earthquake Bird,” thanks to Netflix’s money and the lack of concern about box office, film fans get that exact film.
Starring Alicia Vikander and Riley Keough, “Earthquake Bird” follows the story of two English-speaking women in Japan that find themselves involved with the same Japanese man. And when one of those women begins to grow jealous, the other woman suddenly goes missing, leading to a police investigation about the disappearance.
The film is directed by Wash Westmoreland. He’s probably best known for his recent film “Still Alice.” Last year, he released the underseen period drama “Colette,” which starred Kiera Knightley.
“Working with Alicia was kind of a dream,” Westmoreland said about “Earthquake Bird” (via EW). “The part was very demanding. About 20 percent of it is in Japanese, so we needed an actor who would actually study and learn Japanese by rote so she could pull off these scenes. Alicia has just such a high standard of excellence for everything she does, and she completely aced that part of the challenge. But also, just on a day-to-day level, she’s such a complex and interesting actress, and she always brings so much depth and nuance to every scene.”
Here’s the synopsis:
A psychologically unsettling and atmospheric thriller set in 1989 Tokyo from director Wash Westmoreland (Colette, Still Alice), Earthquake Bird follows Lucy Fly (Alicia Vikander), an enigmatic ex-pat haunted by a painful past, who enters into an intense relationship with Teiji (Naoki Kobayashi), a handsome yet similarly troubled local photographer. Lucy’s imperturbable exterior begins to crack when a naive newcomer, Lily Bridges (Riley Keough), becomes entangled in their lives and ends up missing – suspected dead.
Earthquake Bird releases globally on Netflix on November 15.
