poor night bird, poor butcher bird

“In family-melodrama horror there is always one family member…trying to escape the confines of their limited existence, or an outsider coming into the narrative poised to steal them away. Their only social interaction…is with their siblings, but something happens that awakens them to the possibilities of the outside world. They may even make sincere attempts to escape, but as we have learned from a century of such films, the family always comes first, a reconciliation takes place, and the would-be escapee is forced to recognize their inherent nature and the fact that they belong with their family – especially when they are concealing a secret that would render them socially unacceptable to the outside world. They retreat to the familiarity of the only people who accept them for who they are. Again: traumatic bonding.”