Review | Brightburn film review: high-concept super-villain horror settles for clichés, half-baked ideas
- The Omen meets Superman in this small-town coming-of-age tale of a boy who falls from the sky. Ominous changes set in when the adopted Brandon turns 12
- Sadly, bar a few gnarly death sequences, there is nothing scary about this film. Unconvincing and lacking dynamism, its ending is deeply underwhelming
1.5/5 stars
What if Superman was evil? That’s the high-concept pitch of Brightburn, a super-villain origin story produced by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, and written by his brothers Brian and Mark. Owing as much to Richard Donner’s The Omen as to the Son of Krypton, this small-town coming-of-rage tale sees Kansas farmers Tori and Kyle Breyer (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) secretly adopt a baby boy who falls out of the sky into the woods behind their home.
Quiet, introverted, and bullied at school, Brandon (Jackson Dunn) nevertheless appears to grow into a normal, healthy child – until his 12th birthday, when his body begins to change in ways unlike the other kids.
He starts sleepwalking and lashing out with violent displays of enormous strength, as well as hearing strange voices coming from the locked trapdoor in the barn. Before long, his classmates, teachers and parents have realised that all is not well with Brandon Breyers.