I wanna do good, mom. I do.
Some films are best experienced cold. The less you know about Brightburn going in, the more impactful it's likely to be. (I had the misfortune to catch the trailer, a wretched affair that preempts the best surprises this original story has to offer - read my thoughts on that same topic here.) So if you're planning on watching this movie, go see it and then read on afterwards. Seriously, don't mention it. It's all part of the service.
Okay, to business. Brightburn, from its earliest scenes, has a strong familiarity - one that rapidly becomes discomfiting. Tori and Kyle Breyer (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) are a Kansas couple unsuccessfully striving to become parents. The universe appears to answer their prayers in the form of an alien spacecraft that crashes onto their farm with a baby inside. For a decade they raise him as their own, to all appearances a healthy human child, albeit one immune to physical injury. Then with his twelfth birthday imminent, young Brandon Breyer undergoes an awakening - of superhuman abilities, but also of a nature very different from the loving boy he's thus far appeared to be. Brandon is connecting with whatever technology brought him to Earth, and the rural town of Brightburn needs to brace itself for the consequences.
It's a neat central pitch: 'Superman' arrives on Earth, but not as a force for good. The structure of the movie - particularly in its early stages - is all Smallville, but overlaid with multiple horror movie tropes. Director David Yarovesky has limited feature experience, but his understanding of the genre is assured; there's an effective build-up of menace as the traditional superhero version of this story is methodically subverted. The camera pans about the farm creepily and the barn interior glows demonic-red, while the score thrums like a portent of very bad things to come. This might all be lifted straight from the scary-playbook, but it's executed efficiently with a few grisly shocks along the way and some visually creative moments linked to Brandon's developing abilities.
As Brandon's too-trusting mom, Elizabeth Banks steers away from the comedy that has become her stock-in-trade. She delivers a convincingly emotional turn, retaining our sympathies even when she refuse to believe the staringly obvious truth. David Denman is a likeable blue-collar papa bear as the dad, while Jackson A. Dunn perfects a chilling deadpan as the increasingly sociopathic super-boy. Any nature-versus-nurture debate is dispatched quickly - perhaps too quickly for the story's own good. The pre-teen's narcissism becomes all-consuming once his extra-terrestrial puberty kicks in, making the movie as reminiscent of The Omen as it is of Superman. (These parents really need to talk about Brandon.)
Where the film falls down is a screenplay by Brian and Mark Gunn that never rises above the predictable. (Their brother James, of Guardians of the Galaxy fame, produced the movie, suggesting immense family faith in the project.) The pace and the visuals hold attention, but the dialogue is unfortunately mundane, failing to capitalize on the movie's super-gone-wrong premise and its potential for wicked fun. Character choices and behaviour are ill-explained throughout, the actors salvaging what they can, while at least one major plot thread is left straggling. And don't ask to know why Brandon is breaking bad. We're really not digging that deep.
Shortage of ideas isn't the issue here. Brightburn has enough going on to remain engaging throughout, plus it benefits from a compelling final act that saves up its punches and delivers them in a knockout salvo. Sadly it doesn't have the words to back up its deliciously dark concept. A thorough redraft with proper attention to character would have helped. Then this film might have reached a whole other level of Superbad.
Gut Reaction: A bit of creeping dread, a few jumps and a couple of flinches. And that ending brought a certain grim satisfaction.
Memorable Moment: Mom discovers Brandon's talent for art.
Ed's Verdict: 6/10. An undeniably entertaining piece of genre-splicing, this could have been an 8 or higher, if the script had matched everything else.
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