Director: Ramon Zürcher
Writer: Ramon Zürcher
Country of Origin: Switzerland
For the record, I have not seen this film.
Further to the record, I will not be seeing this film at any point in my life. I’ll explain why shortly.
How It Began
The Sparrow in the Chimney has been described variably as psychological drama, psychological horror, and as some combination of the two. IMDb labels it simply as ‘Drama’. As does Letterboxd.
The IMDB description is more than a wee bit vague:
‘The stark personality differences between sisters Karen and Jule become apparent as their families come together for a birthday party.’
Umm…okay.
Nonetheless, I was intrigued by the film’s title and its poster. The poster features a House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) bursting free from a woman’s shirt. A few other critters, including a Monarch butterfly, a hedgehog, and a chicken, are shown as well. The woman on the poster appears decidedly disgruntled. Here it is:
Interesting. I think.
I gave the trailer a watch. It gives off that distinct arthouse vibe that so many European films tend to do. Given the range of descriptions that have been applied, that’s not at all surprising. It’s also by no means a bad thing. I’ve watched and enjoyed many such films throughout my life. Some have been masterpieces. Many have been pretty mediocre. And a good number have been just plain terrible. I’m perfectly fine with arthouse, generally speaking.
But. And this a big BUT.
As revealed in the trailer, the film features – literally – a House Sparrow caught inside a chimney.
My interest had already begun to wane.
Now, before you go, ‘Meh, it’s just a House Sparrow’, keep in mind that this film is a Swiss production. And it’s set in Switzerland. As any good birder knows, House Sparrows are native to Europe. The film’s setting is precisely where they belong.
Unlike here in North America, where they’re an introduced species and can be problematic for certain of our cavity-nesting native birds. But that’s not exactly why I’m here doing what I’m doing. Resources abound that can fill you in on all the House Sparrow lore that you need to know. The CornellLab’s All About Birds page will do.
No, I’m here to tell you why, as a work of art and/or entertainment, The Sparrow in the Chimney is problematic.
To a bird (and animal) lover like myself, the idea of watching a film wherein a bird is trapped inside a chimney for a potentially extended period of time is…well…not my idea of a good time. For me, this sort of thing is very triggering for a number of reasons I will not detail here. Moreso, it’s simply an unpleasant thing to watch or have described in any medium whatsoever. You know, unless you’re a psychopath.
However…
Where It Went
Rather than immediately rushing to some dramatic conclusions about the content of the film, I figured I would check out an official review. No, not some idiotic user review on IMDb or Letterboxd, but an actual review written for a major publication.
Before I get to that, though, I want to at least briefly cover what the film is about. Based entirely on what I could gather from having watched the trailer.
Very much in a nutshell…
The story centers around a family get-together at a country house. There appears to be an abundance of tension between all of the various characters due to any number of unresolved conflicts and past traumas. In essence, it’s a dark family drama and quasi-horror film involving some seemingly unpleasant characters who probably shouldn’t be hanging out together in the first place.
(Sounds a bit like my family. Eeek!)
From what I was later able to piece together from a couple of online sources, the sparrow in the chimney is meant to symbolize the mental states (i.e. feeling trapped; wanting to escape) of one or more of the main characters. That totally tracks with what the trailer showed.
But yeah, after watching that trailer, I was very much riding the fence on this film. A proper review was definitely in order. As it happened, the very first review I found – by Matt Zoller Seitz at rogerebert.com – turned out to be the only one I needed to read.
Zoller Seitz was not a fan of The Sparrow in the Chimney. There were a number of reasons why he panned it, the majority of which I won’t go into here (by all means, check out his review). But there is one criticism he levels at the film that I want to mention because it’s really significant.
For me, it was the proverbial nail in the coffin. The reason why I’ll never waste two hours of my life watching this…well…dreck, to be perfectly honest.
How It Ended
As Zoller Seitz spells out in his review, “There’s a lot of animal cruelty in the movie…”. I know a few of the specifics, but it’s not worth my time to go into them. I’ll just say this:
In any way, shape, or form, I have zero tolerance for that sort of nonsense. Regardless of context. Regardless of whether it’s real or simulated (which appears to be the case here). The use of animal cruelty as a plot or story device, or as a way to define a character in some manner, is often extremely troubling. But the depiction of said cruelty specifically for the purpose of art or entertainment: that’s not for me.
And hopefully it’s not for you either.
So that’s the last thing I’ll ever say about The Sparrow in the Chimney.
As a sort-of palette cleanser, how about a pic of a fledgling House Sparrow? Cute but deadly. I’m not even kidding.
Just ask an Eastern bluebird.
© 2026 by Pop Culture Birding.