Barry Keoghan is a derelict dad in Andrea Arnold's Bird trailer

Fatherhood doesn’t mean respectability for Barry Keoghan in Andrea Arnold’s latest film, which premieres in theaters November 8. You’ll easily recognize the Oscar-nominated actor in the Bird trailer for his youthful, off-kilter energy. Except this time his energy has a profound effect on his young daughter Bailey (Nykiya Adams), whose lonely existence in her run-down town is changed by the appearance of a vagrant named Bird (Franz Rogowski).

The new trailer from MUBI highlights both Arnold’s naturalistic style and the way the natural world intertwines with Bailey’s life. Her father is locked in “another one of his crazy schemes that come to nothing” by trying to monetize toad venom as a drug. Bailey finds solace from her dad’s chaos outside, where there are horses, dogs, birds, and Bird, with whom she forms a bond. 

Speaking with IndieWire earlier this year about his experience on Bird, Keoghan praised Arnold’s process. “You don’t have a trailer to go to, which I prefer, and I really truly mean that. You’re in the deep end of it with everyone else. She doesn’t give you a script. You don’t have lines to learn,” he shared. “It’s just pure, spontaneous, and instinctive. She’s almost trying to break you down in the gentlest way so you can be honest and truthful.” 

As for the 31-year-old playing a young single(ish) dad, “I’ll just say this—I didn’t have a father figure growing up, so even my relationship with my son isn’t quite of the normal father-son relationship, because I don’t have that figure to draw experience from and to base it on,” ” Keoghan explained to Entertainment Weekly at TIFF. “Love, you don’t need anything to draw from, love is pure, and so I’m not on about that, but I’m on about little stuff like teaching your son this or teaching your daughter that.”