Brightburn: Film Review

Brightburn: Film Review

Cast: Elizabeth Banks, David Denham, Jackson A Dunn
Director: David Yarovesky

More than just its idea of what if Superman was bad one shot comic foundations, horror Brightburn is a slow-burning claustrophobic film that plays with the puberty tropes and chilling edges.

Banks and Denham are Tori and Kyle Breyer, haunted by infertility and proffered hope when a spaceship crashes to Earth at the back of their farmyard. (So far, so Smallville).

Growing up loved, Brandon (Dunn, at times distant, and other times intense and unsettling) takes a turn for the worse on the cusp of his 12th birthday with something awakening deep inside of him.

Brightburn's a taut and occasionally frightening film, with jumps coming from the atmosphere of unease spun by Yarovesky.

Sure, it mixes edges of The Omen with Chronicle, flirts with the Smallville origins, and plays a little too close with its core small cast of characters, but within its 90 minute run time, it offers up something that's a mix of originality with a dash of We Need to Talk About Kal-El than anything.

It messes with the innocence of boys, and plays on the fact their nature can turn, regardless of whether the love is there or not. It's a nice twist on the concept, and Banks sells it well, always wanting to believe the best of their gift from the skies.

While Yarovesky's to be applauded for being less interested in setting up the mythology of where Brandon's from, and concentrating more on the jolts and creepier edges, there's definitely a feeling that Brightburn could expand further (though a final reel moment seems misjudged in the wash) and provide more than just a take on skewed adolescence.

Ultimately, Brightburn delivers on its premise within a brisk run time and works well due to the mother / son relationship, as well as the Take The World storyline that develops.

It may be criticised for some of its more open edges, but in truth, what's laid out on the screen is smartly executed, and riveting, in spite of some minor narrative flaws.