Brightburn Movie Review - Subverting Superman for Intelligent gains

Still from the trailer

Brightburn

U/A: Horror
Director: David Yarovesky
Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Jackson A. Dunn, David Denman, Jennifer Holland
Rating:

As in Superman's origin story, a child from another world crash-lands on Earth, on a farm owned by a childless couple, Tori Breyer(Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer(David Denman). They think he is the answer to their prayers and shower him with love and adoration only to realise that he is no superman - but something far more sinister.

This is another kind of origin story with the filmmaker of Guardians of the Galaxy and Slither presenting a radical take on superhero horror in a startling, subversive manner.

The premise itself is pretty intriguing. What if a boy with super powers turns to evil? As the child subsequently grows up as a boy (now played by Jackson A. Dunn), he is perceived as nerdy and gets bullied which in turn triggers strange voices in his brain, leading to violence. And once the demon inside is unleashed it just gets more and more grisly and graphic.

Check out the trailer here:

David Yarovesky drums up enough of dread and tension to make this experience a genre special with superhero tropes melding into sci-fi horror. The tempo is aggravated and the pace is steadily incremented as special effects set-pieces and gruesome horror moments take centre stage. Jackson A Dunn as Brandon Beaver makes the sinister look frighteningly convincing while Banks and Denman as the parents watch on helplessly as the violence spirals beyond their control.

Brighburn feels edgy and intense but the anti-hero story does not reveal everything, leaving some of it probably for the next edition- a sequel franchise in the making?

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