Review #62: Brightburn (2019)


This review was originally written in October 2019.

October Horror Movie Review #10: Brightburn

I'm not sure where to start with this one, so I'll just get this out there: I loved this film. I'd heard the concept and wasn't suuuuper impressed (one-sentence synopsis: What if Clark Kent turned evil when he first developed powers) but the actual movie was great in nearly every way. The characters were all believable, the effects (when they were used) were amazing and often terrifying, and the ending was pretty much the only thing you could expect from something like this.

I did feel at times that this movie was pretty predictable; but I don't mean that in a bad way. Like how the premise is pretty one-note, I could see just about every story beat playing out in my head the moment it was introduced; but because of how well-done the horror was, that just meant that I had a feeling of dread knowing how it was going to go but without anything I could do about it.

And speaking of the horror, I'll get down to exactly what makes this movie so terrifying: The creators of Brightburn understand that a child with superpowers is one of the scariest things imaginable. Moreso than some weird alien eldritch monstrosity that is beyond comprehension, moreso than an organization of serial killers stalking people through their webcams, more than most anything else because it's a deadly monster with the intelligence and understanding of how humans work and how to destroy or manipulate them, but without the judgment or empathy that comes from age and experience. You can't reason with a little kid with super powers- you can just hope that they don't decide to kill you. This movie definitely got that feeling across in spades.

I wouldn't say it was perfect- there were a few things I think could have been improved (or at least I would have liked to have seen done differently). I wish there was a little bit more of a transition between before the kid turned evil and after (it's sort of just a switch flips and then you know it's just a matter of time) and there was a moment early on where his dad talks about how they got him to stop crying as a baby by giving him this candy he liked- I expected that to come back later but it never did, so it felt like it was a remnant of an earlier cut that didn't make it. And the romance (?) with his classmate also felt like it dropped off instead of being revisited again.

All in all I think this movie was amazing and I wish I had watched it sooner. Brightburn isn't perfect but it's darn near close enough for me.

Overall rating: 10/10

Personal headcanon: This movie is one possible ending for the character of Roy from The Office

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Next up: Ghost Stories!

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