Starring: Helen Mirren, Gillian Anderson, Bryce Gheisar, Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story: Spin-off sequel and prequel war drama directed by Marc Forster. White Bird (2024) follows Julian (Bryce Gheisar), the bully who left Beecher Prep from Wonder (2017), who is visited by his Grand-mère (Helen Mirren) from Paris, and is transformed by her remarkable story of compassion and courage. As a girl in Nazi-occupied France, Sara (Ariella Glaser), goes into hiding with the help of a schoolmate, a young man, Julien (Orlando Schwerdt), who risks everything to give her the chance to survive. Together, they find beauty and love in the secret world of their own creation.
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Top Emotionally Impactful White Bird Movie Quotes
Julian Albans: Right now, I’m just trying to fit in. It’s kind of been my motto ever since I left my old school. What?
Grand-mère: Julian, you did not leave your old school. You were expelled. For being cruel to another boy.
Grand-mère: And this is what you’ve learned? To be normal?
Julian Albans: What’s wrong with normal?
Grand-mère: Nothing. And everything.
Grand-mère: I’m sure your father has told you stories about what happened to me when I was a young girl.
Julian Albans: Some. He says you don’t really like to talk about it.
Grand-mère: I don’t. But now, I think, for your sake, I must.
Mlle Petitjean: The world of reality has its limits. The world of imagination is boundless.
Max Blum: What I believe is that all people have a light inside them. And that light lets them see into other people’s hearts. But some people have lost it. They have darkness inside them, so that’s all they see in others. They hate us because they can’t see us. As long as we shine our light, we win.
Julien Beaumier: [to Sara] You need to come with me right now. I know a way out.
Sara Blum: You’re being so nice to me. I was never very nice to you. At least my friends certainly weren’t.
Julien Beaumier: I guess I always felt you were, I don’t know, different.
Grand-mère: I knew I would miss those evenings with Julien. It was as if we had created our own little world, even as the world outside grew darker and darker.
Sara Blum: [to Julien] Remember the bird I told you about? I drew her for you, so you can meet her too. She always comes when I need her. She brings me hope.
Grand-mère: It was Julien’s nightly visits that sustained me. The barn had become my whole world. And Julien, its center. We had in common one crucial thing. We had both seen how much hate people are capable of. And how much courage it took to be kind.
Grand-mère: When kindness can cost you your life, it becomes like a miracle.
Vivienne Beaumier: Well, in dark times, those small things remind us of our humanity.
Sara Blum: You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.
Julien Beaumier: Why? Because I walk with a crutch? A crutch doesn’t make me brave, it makes me walk.
Sara Blum: The truth is, had you been the one that needed saving, I probably wouldn’t have done it.
Julien Beaumier: You don’t know that.
Sara Blum: No, I do. And I’m sorry.
Sara Blum: I used to be afraid of the night. But now I see it as my time for listening to the soul of the world telling me its secrets, over and over, like a song, “You love Julien. You love Julien.” “Yes,” I answer. “I know. I love Julien.”
Grand-mère: I did. I loved him. I wasn’t brave enough to say it that night. But I decided, the next night, I would. And maybe he would say he loved me too.
[we then learn that Julien gets arrested, taken away to a camp, and soon after executed]
Grand-mère: [referring to her mother] I think a part of me knew she hadn’t survived. In the white bird, I had always felt her spirit, gifting me hope when I had none.
Vivienne Beaumier: [to Sara] You will always have a mother in me. I love you.
Grand-mère: You forget many things in life. But you never forget kindness. Like love, it stays with you forever.
Grand-mère: And I suppose that, mon cher, is the end of my story. Did I upset you?
Julian Albans: Yeah, but in a good way.
Grand-mère: And do you understand why I needed to tell you this story now, Julian?
Grand-mère: Hatred is not normal. Cruelty is not normal. Love is normal. Kindness is normal. But simply knowing this is not enough. It must be shared. It must be practiced.
Grand-mère: Sometimes the smallest gestures can lead to the greatest change.
Grand-mère: A very wise man, Martin Luther King, once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only the light can do that.” Now, this is what my father believed. We must, all of us, use the light within ourselves to stop the injustices of today. For only then can we be certain that the darkness of the past will never be repeated. And that those who gave their lives to defy it did so for a brighter tomorrow.