Quarantine Thriller “Songbird” Gets PVOD Release Date

Songbird, the first major motion picture shot entirely during the COVID-19 lockdown, finally has a release date. Befitting a film set in a world where people are confined to their homes, the film will bypass theaters and premiere on PVOD.

Produced by Michael Bay, Songbird stars KJ Apa (the CW's Riverdale) and Sofia Carson (the Disney Channel's Descendants) as a couple separated by strict quarantine protocols. Apa's character is immune to the virus that has caused the world to enter a military-enforced lockdown, while his girlfriend (Carson) must remain indoors. When people around her start getting sick – and dragged off to undisclosed locations – he'll have to embark on a daring rescue mission.

The ensemble cast also includes Emmy winner Bradley Whitford, Paul Walter Hauser, Demi Moore and Peter Stormare as – you guessed it – a suspicious man with an accent. Director Adam Mason (who co-wrote the film with his frequent collaborator Simon Boyes) has a long history of low-budget horror movies. This will be his chance at the big leagues.

Songbird will be available for digital rental on December 11. It will also arrive on a major streaming service in 2021, though it has not been announced which one.

Check out the trailer below.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.