It had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 10, 2019. It was released on November 1, 2019, before digital streaming on November 15, 2019, by Netflix.
Plot summary
In 1989 Tokyo, Japan, Lucy Fly is a young Swedish immigrant who is working as a translator at a manufacturing company, and is suspected of murder when her American friend Lily Bridges goes missing.
The plot is sometimes shown in flashbacks, including some of Lucy's childhood, as well as scenes of her romantic relationship with Teiji and friendship with Lily. Teiji's hobby includes taking photographs of nature scenes such as water reflections and abandoned buildings. When Teiji first meets Lucy, he says he rarely takes photos of people, yet wants to take her portrait. Teiji has a peculiar habit of locking his favorite photos away in a filing cabinet rather than displaying them to the public.
During a vacation to Sado Island, Lucy's friendship with Lily sours when she discovers that Teiji has begun a romantic relationship with Lily behind her back. Following the disappearance of Lily, Lucy is arrested and interrogated by Japanese detectives. Lucy claims that she murdered Lily in a fit of jealous rage, but is cleared after the body is identified as belonging to someone else. After being released, Lucy discovers evidence in Teiji's photo collection implicating him in Lily's murder and disappearance. Teiji attacks Lucy but she kills him in self-defense.
The film ends with Lucy in a cemetery with her Japanese friend Ms. Kato, reflecting on the past.
It had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 10, 2019.[6][7] It was released on November 1, 2019, in a limited release before digital streaming on November 15, 2019.[8]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 50% based on 40 reviews, with an average of 5.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Riley Keough and Alicia Vikander give it their all, but Earthquake Bird suffers from a frustrating inability to bring its literary source material consistently to life."[9] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 48 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]