Junior Jess Mruzik is eating popcorn, her mom is grabbing blankets, while her family is getting ready to watch Bird Box on Netflix. The movie begins, and Mruzik promises herself she would ignore all the theories and spoilers she came across on social media, and watch with a clear mind.

“You have to have a lot of patience to watch the movie,” said Mruzik.

Sandra Bullock is lead actress in the movie Bird Box, released Dec. 13, and directed by Susanne Bier. Controversy has risen due to mixed emotions about the plot and purpose of the movie. According to Netflix, within its first week, 45 million accounts viewed the movie. However, according to Babel X by Babel’s Street, the majority of viewers felt neutral about the film.

Humorous references to Bird Box have appeared on social media. It seems the film was not taken as seriously as expected, and although there are many fans, many viewers did not enjoy the film.

Many people who have imitated this film have seriously injured themselves. The “Bird Box challenge” has encouraged people to attempt what the actors did in the actual movie: successfully driving with a blindfold on.

According to CNN, a girl in Utah crashed into another car while trying to complete the challenge.

“I felt like it was dragged on,” said sophomore Dalia Housey. “And after I watched it there was so many comments on Twitter about it. People were going crazy about it.”

Many viewers feel this film was a waste of their time. However, others appreciated the creativity and intention of the film. Right after senior Lorane Assofi watched Bird Box, she said she wished for a sequel.

“I liked it a lot,” said Assofi. “But I kind of knew what was going to happen the whole time.”

Many theories about the movie’s meaning exist, such as the monsters could be a symbol of social media or racism, or something else. In an interview with Matt Patches from Polygon, director Susanne Bier said she liked the mother’s strong feminist role and the love she has for her children.

In another interview, Bier said it was an intentional decision not to show any monsters in the film. The goal is to have each viewer think about his or her worst and biggest fear.