Mubi has acquired the U.S. rights to Andrea Arnold’s latest feature film Bird, marking a continued effort by the global production house and streaming platform to establish a North American presence. Coming on the coattails of Mubi’s purchase of The Substance, Coralie Fargeat’s horror film starring Demi Moore, the production company continues showing an interest in features sparking a buzz at the Cannes Film Festival.

Coming after what was reported by Variety as a fierce bidding war, Mubi is making a big splash in the world of streaming, now establishing itself as the company behind two critically acclaimed films that audiences are anxiously awaiting. 

Arnold’s film stars Barry Keoghan as Bug, a young man struggling with fatherhood, Nykiya Adams as Bailey, the twelve-year-old daughter of Bug dealing with feelings of loneliness as well as the hardships of puberty, and Franz Rigowski as Bird, an eccentric stranger who suddenly enters Bailey’s life as she looks for companionship. Variety’s review described the film as “a gritty story of emotional poverty crossed with a fantasy-pal fairy tale,” displaying the “integrity and empathy” seen throughout Arnold’s body of work. Receiving a seven-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, audiences await the mainstream release of Arnold’s latest film.