“Bird Box,” based on the novel by Josh Malerman, is written by Eric Heisserer and directed by Susanne Bier and stars Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes and John Malkovich.

Your mind races, wondering if these children have been kidnapped as they are addressed as “Girl” and “Boy.” It’s gut-wrenching to watch these terrified-yet-precious little faces react to harshness from a woman, but then we are spiraled to five years earlier, and we find out how we got to this lowly place.

“Bird Box,” on the surface, reminds me of a combination of the horror films “It Comes At Night” and “A Quiet Place,” particularly as we have a key sensory deprivation, this time sight, and a need to find and maintain a safe environment yet still live.

You even begin to ponder Darwin’s theory of adaptation at one point in the film, as each character exhibits a skill or a trait that enables them to survive ... even just a little longer than another.

Bullock shines and carries this film effortlessly, creating a very real woman in this continuously dangerous new world, but it is her interaction with the remarkable children, Vivian Lyra Blair (Girl) and Julian Edwards (Boy), whose performances deserve to be noted, that pushes her acting skills to a higher level.

Jacki Weaver, Sarah Paulson, Tom Hollander, and Danielle Macdonald (“Patti Cake$”), round out the ensemble cast perfectly.