‘The Thing With Feathers’ review: Blahblahdook | Sundance 2025

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, The Thing With Feathers tries hard to fly above the shadows of other, better folk horror films about grief.

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Benedict Cumberbatch’s latest outing as a grief-stricken father, The Thing with Feathers, flutters between folk horror and emotional drama but never really sticks either landing. Directed by Dylan Southern (Meet Me in the Bathroom) and based on Max Porter’s 2015 novella, the film aims to delve into the depths of grief by introducing a supernatural crow symbolizing despair. Or maybe a sad mad dad crisis in feathery form. Unfortunately, what could have been a powerful meditation on loss ends up more like a moody echo into the void.

Cumberbatch, ever the professional, brings his full arsenal of tormented dad energy. Furrowed brows, clenched fists, and even pantomiming crow movements. It’s a whirlwind of hallucinations as are on full display as his character stumbles through a whirlwind of grief and crow-related hallucinations as “Dad” struggles to care for his two young sons after the sudden death of his wife, all while a talking crow, voiced with unsettling whimsy by David Thewlis, takes up residence in their home. The bird promises guidance but delivers chaos, creating moments that swing between eerie and unintentionally comical. It’s a wild concept, but Southern’s execution has no structural stability, leaving the audience with frayed scenes and endless, repetitive mash cuts.

The crow monster itself is admittedly this film’s best asset next to Cumberbatch’s commitment. The design is undeniably striking, a blend of grotesque elegance that feels like a rejected Where the Wild Things Are character. Or even a particularly menacing Muppet. It’s visually intriguing but far from terrifying or charming, and its ominous presence is undermined by a lackluster script that struggles to decide whether the crow is a harbinger of doom or a snarky life coach with feathers. The film’s sound mixing doesn’t help matters, with abrupt audio shifts that jolt more than the scares themselves. Instead of pulling you deeper into the narrative, these technical missteps feel like the cinematic equivalent of a bird squawking in your ear.

One of the film’s greatest frustrations is its missed opportunity to explore the nuanced dynamics of grief beyond an Edgar Allen Poe mood board. There’s a compelling thread here—Cumberbatch’s character gradually realizing how much he relied on his wife to keep their lives together while he mentally checked out—but it’s never fully developed or reckoned. Instead, the movie skims the surface of this emotional revelation with bland, heavy-handed metaphors and overwrought visual flourishes. The central question (what is the difference between grief and despair?) is teased but never meaningfully addressed beyond “how does that make you feel?”

Southern’s direction is ambitious but tries much too hard to evoke profound emotional weight through dimly lit rooms, slow pans, and jump scares that scream “spooky!” without actually delivering. The opening scenes attempt to set an eerie tone, but the lack of a strong narrative hook makes it hard to invest early on. Even after the film finally picks up steam, it’s already flapping frantically to keep your attention. Even Cumberbatch, with all his commitment and raw talent, can’t save the film from feeling like a hodgepodge of folk horror tropes of the same feather.

Despite its flaws, The Thing with Feathers still has some hope to it. The atmospheric tension, while derivative, has occasional bursts of intrigue. And it’s certainly aiming for dramatic effect. But in practice, the only effect is watching a bird repeatedly crash into a clean window. It’s a nest of unmet potential. It’s for the birds. (Sorry, the puns are repetitive because that’s what this movie was like.)

The Thing With Feathers had its world premiere at the Sundance 2025 Film Festival. Find more of our Sundance 2025 coverage here.