This Drag Queen Turned ‘Bird Box’ into an Iconic Performance

According to Netflix, more than 45 million accounts have streamed its post-apocalyptic Sandra Bullock vehicle Bird Box, and it was inevitable that at least some of those were drag queens. That meant it was only a matter of time before the cultural phenomenon was recreated in gay bars across the world by our favorite queens.

Mis Toto, whose Big Mouth cosplay went viral in December, knew what the gays wanted and set out to give them exactly that. A fan of horror and thrillers, once the Miami queen saw Bird Box, "I knew I needed to do a number, but had to go the extra mile. How do I do that?" The answer was simple: "Get a real canoe and two nonbinary, POC performers to be my kids!"

For the performance, Toto cut together dialogue from the movie with Kim Petras' Halloween hit "Close Your Eyes," "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" from the Sondheim classic Sweeney Todd and, for a real gag, Tina Turner's "Proud Mary," which "definitely added a comedic effect and added to the visual that we were on the river." For an emotional climax, Toto and her stage children take off their blindfolds to Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now."

Toto says Bird Box has become such a viral sensation, particularly with queer audiences, because "the gays love bondage play! But actually, I think it has to do with the character choices of Sandra Bullock and Sarah Paulson. They're both gay icons in their own right and pairing them together is beyond smart, if you want us to love you. I'm just a faggot for Sarah Paulson."

Toto isn't the only queen inspired by Bird Box: Drag Race season 10 winner Aquaria also gave the film the drag treatment.

In the immortal words of Gary: "Look, it's so beautiful."