If Superman went bad and killed everybody
The story of Superman involves a couple in Kansas finding and raising an alien child that turns out to have superhuman powers. In Brightburn, they take that same formula but lead that child on a new path. What would Superman be like if he decided to kill instead of using his powers for good?
Directed by David Yarovesky and produced by James Gunn, the story follows the slow descent to madness of Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), a 12-year old boy with superhuman powers while his human parents (Elizabeth Banks, David Denman) try to cope with the consequences of their actions. The movie is a blending of two popular genres that haven’t really been put together before: superhero and horror.
The movie honestly surprised me with how enjoyable most of it was. The build-up was well executed, with an atmosphere being built that makes you dread what is coming. The performances were also quite good out of most of the cast. They make it clear from the beginning that this boy has some issues, they’re going to come out pretty soon, and his parents have no clue how to react to the destruction that will come with it.
When the action heats up, it’s also extremely intense. The way they use sound and lighting is next-level and add an extra element of horror to the movie itself. There gore is absolutely unreal and is hard to watch at times. There’s a few cheap jump scares here and there but it never overly relies on them to make you fear this child in the red mask.
They don’t overly do it though. It’s well paced with him doing more and more harmful things to the people around him. It doesn’t ever feel overbearing, it crescendos up to an insane climax near the end that keeps you locked in and waiting for what’s next. It’s hard not to feel helpless at how powerful this young boy is. It’s also hard not to feel terrified at what he’s doing with these newfound powers. Dunn really did him justice by making Brandon as creepy as humanly (or superhumanly?) possible.
Brightburn is not without its flaws though. The writing itself feel like the main source of any issues I had, and I’m not sure if it was laziness or whatever else. A lot of the elements throughout simply feel predictable or not thought through. There were multiple times where I knew exactly what they were going to do in a certain scene. We also never learn any backstory on why he’s doing what he’s doing, why it’s just now hitting him, or what is leading him down this dark path. It just feels a bit random and needs a bit more fleshing out to reach its true potential.
The conclusion was also a bit rough. It’s hard to explain without spoiling but it just felt cheap and it looked cheap too. It feels like they were trying to subvert expectations to make things more bleak, or maybe they’re wanting to leave it open for a sequel, but it just didn’t feel right. To top it all off, they cut into the credits by playing “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish which didn’t fit the mood at all. I don’t know, it was just an underwhelming finish to what was overall a pretty damn good horror movie.
Brightburn is worth a watch from any horror or superhero fans because it brings a fresh new take to both genres by combining the two to make a movie that is both disgusting and awesome. It’s not a perfect film, and the ending left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but it pleasantly surprised me nonetheless. Here’s hoping for more creative ideas like it in the future because the premise was great, the execution just left me wishing they did a little more to deliver.
The Movie Hall 
Leave a comment