12月28日Netflix宣佈：在過去7天內超過4500萬個賬號觀看了公司原創恐怖電影--《蒙上你的眼/鳥舍》（Bird Box），打破了公司歷史原創劇的首周播放記錄。在宣告中，Netflix表示個人或者整個家庭服務均歸為1個賬號，而且根據Netflix的相關規則只有觀70%的內容才算積分，因此實際觀看人數可能要多於4500萬人。

《Bird Box》的主要劇情是當一股神秘力量要殲滅人類，大家只知道一個法則：萬一你看到它，就要奉上自己的性命。面對一切未知，梅樂莉找著愛與希望，以及可以瓦解這股力量的新轉機。她別無選擇，只好帶著兩個孩子渡過危機四伏的河流，逃往唯一可能安全的地方避難。為了生存下去，他們必須蒙上雙眼，踏上長達兩天的危險旅程。

評價：世界各地開始散播一種“病毒”，一旦感染則會變得瘋狂，大機率自殺（說是“病毒”其主要原因是來自對“未知的恐懼”，因為不知其原因，傳播方式為“看見”，只能將其定義為“病毒”）傳播速度很快，僅僅五年時間，全球淪陷，人類僅能靠除去視覺以外的其他四感殘存。女主本來是個叛逆的文藝女青年，經歷了各種事件後，內心也是在不斷成長，船上的一段經歷讓我記憶猶新，去避難所的水路有一段激流，如果矇眼的話，有很大機率會觸礁翻船，所以必須有一個人取下眼罩去辨明方向，女主肯定不能看（否則兩個小孩也無法到達避難所），剩下一男一女兩個小孩，男孩是女主親生的，女孩是女主答應別人照顧的遺腹子。女主好幾次暗示小女孩主動作為“眼睛”，反而自己親生的孩子想主動承擔責任，但最終考驗人性的抉擇在女主手中……

我本身就是“克蘇魯”的愛好者，當我看到影片的設定時就意識到有借鑑克蘇魯的部分。當你看不見的時候是安全的，看到事件的本質則會陷入瘋狂。有部分人則會變為古神的信徒，信徒雖不會自殺，但本質上也陷入了瘋狂。

當災難來臨之時，做出怎樣的選擇，是值得考慮的一件事。

What are the mysterious beings in Bird Box?— the Cthulhu hypothesis

坊間眾多假說之中，最可靠的看來就是克蘇魯神話的神祗/怪物/惡靈/(其他...)

The film Netflix film Bird Box (2018) has kept the deadly, mysterious beings, which lead to the apocalyptic condition of the world, invisible and cryptic. Are they aliens, ghosts or gods? One plausible hypothesis refers to the Cthulhu Mythos, the fictitious shared words of indescribable of cosmic deities and monstrous beings.

電影到最後也沒有清楚地呈現或解釋那些造成人類浩劫的神秘生物是甚麼，留給觀眾想像：外星人？鬼怪？神祗？

What are the features of the mysterious beings in BirdBox?

電影中的"怪物"設定是怎樣的呢？它們會產生影子、能搖動樹冠、能看見它們的人會死亡（自殺）或陷入瘋狂；倖存者聲稱看到"真理"並進入著魔的狀態……特別留意，有一場戲暗示了"怪物"的外觀：

Although they are invisible to the audience, they can cast shadows on windows and appear to be seen by the characters, and move the trees when they pass by.These beings create the hallucination of “someone is calling my name” which tempts the people to open their eyes or commit suicide.Most who saw these beings would kill themselves. Some people seem to be immune to the suicidal force, and they would force other people to see those beings, claiming they cannot be the only ones to “see the truth”.No one describes how they look like. But in one scene their appearances are hinted in some gothic drawings:可能是"怪物"的模樣

What isCthulhu?

由小說家 H. P. Lovecraft創作的「克蘇魯神話」體系 (由後人整理Lovecraft的眾多作品後而設定)中的"神祗"或"超存在"角色眾多 (「克蘇魯」本來只是其中一個)，特色各異，但也有些常見的特徵：多觸手、很多觸手；不規則的外形、詭異的眼睛；人類目睹它們的話會死亡、或瘋狂、或成為崇拜者。

Cthulhu is originally one of those mysterious characters created by H. P. Lovecraft in his novels. Later August Derleth, novelist and disciple of Lovecraft, coined the term “Cthulhu Mythos’ and created a more systematic worldview.

There are numerous deities and monsters created by Lovecraft and Derleth. The most common feature of those horrible beings is an assemblage of tentacles, many tentacles. Some also remind me of the brain nerve cells with many dendrites.

當中有些角色會令人想起腦神經細胞的形狀，有密集恐懼症的人最好避免觀看有關克蘇魯神話的圖片了；反過來說，若你喜歡吃墨汁八爪魚義大利麵，你或許會很喜歡克蘇魯神話。

Some characters have limbs and trunks, some with wings, many are in irregular shapes, with dreadful eyes. I suggest people who suffer from trypophobia should also avoid the images of Cthulhu characters. But if you love cuttlefish ink spaghetti with octopus, Cthulhu is your cup of tea.

Some of the deities in Cthulhu Mythos: 以下列舉一些克蘇魯神話中的角色特徵：Cthugha: a great fireball 一個巨大的火球Nyogtha: amorphous dark matter with tentacles 不定型的黑暗物質，帶著多條觸手Azathoth/Xada-Hgla: enormous amoeba with many polypous appendages and eyes 巨大的變形蟲，帶有多隻眼睛及附肢Nyarlathotep: a tall, dark faceless man sometimes with a tentacle on his face 看來像又黑又高的男人，臉上沒有五官，只有一條巨大的觸手

(請再比較一下電影擷圖中的"怪物"畫像)

Lovercraft 的克魯蘇設計草圖

What is in common between Bird Box and CthulhuMythos?

電影中的神秘生物及克蘇魯中的神祗/怪物角色有何類同點？

電影和Lovecraft的小說都不會完全清晰地呈現"它們"是怎樣的，因為它們都超越了人類認知的能力；正是如此，它們既有摧毀性又有吸引力；兩者的外觀特徵也相當吻合 (請參看擷圖中的畫像)

Both keep the mysterious beings beyond the reach of human understanding. The "truth" of the cosmos is horror itself. Most people who see these beings are driven to death or madness, thus cannot report what these beings actually are.These beings are the source of destructive temptation to human. People in Cthulhu Mythos often worship those beings and form cults. The closer to the “truth” about these beings, the closer to death or madness of those people.The appearances of those beings in Bird Box resemble those in Cthulhu Mythos, such as tentacles/dendrites, dreadful eyes, and irregular shapes:

This is just a hypothesis. The filmmaker of Bird Box intentionally leave it open, keeps the secret of the mysterious beings obscure, and invite the viewers to interpret.

What is your hypothesis?

當然也有不同於克蘇魯神話的地方——到底這只是其中一個假說。