Superhero/horror genre mash-up shows what might have happened if a Superman-like 12-year-old actually turned out to be violently evil. Produced by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy).
Brandon Breyer seems like a normal-ish kid, but like Clark Kent before him (no-one tell DC's lawyers), he was adopted after being found as a baby in an alien spacecraft. His parents (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) raise him with love and affection in the small town of Brightburn, but are forced to consider whether nature trumps nurture when strange events start to occur, and bodies pile up.
In this superhero horror produced by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and starring Elizabeth Banks, an alien child crash lands on Earth. But instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proves to be something far more sinister.
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What are the most effective parental techniques to deal with the realisation that your child is the spawn of Satan? That is the $64,000 question at the heart of every 'they didn't put Lucifer impregnating me on the brochure' film, from the crib in Rosemary’s Baby to the crossbow massacre scene in Let’s Talk About Kevin. It is also a core question in Brightburn, which swaps the devil’s jizz for Superman’s in service of a curious experiment in genre recalibration and expectation realignment.
Full reviewThe premise isn't bad, even if the evil-Superman origin story was done better in "Chronicle." The execution, however, is lacking, particularly in freshness, humour or style.
Full reviewWhat makes "Brightburn" a little better than average is the time it spends observing Brandon with Tori and Kyle, his loving, increasingly alarmed mom and dad, who are played with excellent game faces by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman.
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Brightburn risks falling into the all-too-familiar creepy kid horror formula but there's just about enough to distinguish it from that ever-expanding subgenre...
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While certainly not a bad movie, I was left feeling disappointed that Brightburn has simply turned out to be a dullish entry in the demonic child genre.
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Several visuals - and the accompanying crunches and gurgles - will make appearances in my nightmares.
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While not exactly original, the premise is certainly effective enough. But Brightburn lacks the visual stylisation or wit to elevate it from the realm of the crudely effective B-movie.
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... manages to keep the tension high and really delivers on the squirmy gore when needed.
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