Brightburn: Son of Evil: Movie Review

"Brightburn" when considered as a standalone horror film works. But one of the reasons why people are looking forward to it is its different take on the superhero genre. Unfortunately, it fails to gain any traction on its genre-making and genre-breaking potential for its superficial take and development of it its main character.

Struggling with fertility, Kyle (David Denman) and Tori Breyer (Elizabeth Banks) dreams of parenthood suddenly comes true with the arrival of a mysterious baby boy from outer space. The boy, which they name Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), appears to be bright, talented, kind, and curious about the world. But as Brandon nears puberty, a powerful darkness manifests within him, and Kyle and Tori become consumed by terrible doubts about their son's origins and intentions on those closest to him and the world around him.

The simple premise of "Brightburn" sounds so simple but so full of potential. If they pull this off, "Brightburn" can easily be classified as an iconic film. But the reality is way off from what they needed to accomplish. Frustratingly, the actual film focuses heavily on its horror aspect while forgetting to develop the film's actual main pull - its protagonist Brandon Breyer. The most disappointing aspect of "Brightburn" is how shallow and superficial everything felt. There's really little character development - we don't even get any clue who and where Brandon Breyer came from. Additionally, the human relationships Brandon encounters (between his family, friends, and even crushes) were given very few scenes to really bloom. Some characters actually had only one scene with the protagonist to establish their history with him. As you can imagine, this means that key scenes in the latter parts of the film basically fall flat. If there's one thing that saves 'Brightburn" from absolute mediocrity, it would be its horror scenes. All were excellent in our opinion. These scenes were not only creative and fresh but they were truly terrifying. Even without ghosts or demons in tow, the atmosphere was thick, heavy, and full of surprises. Excellent visuals, cinematography, sound effects all combine to amplify your senses to the max. On the acting side, the film was average. Outside Elizabeth Banks, everyone seemed to be less enthusiastic to be in the film. But given the average screenplay, who could blame them? To sum it all up, we expected more from "Brightburn" but the lack of any world-building or character-building means that instead of starting a franchise, "Brightburn" has boxed itself to be a standalone release and an average concept film that worked at best.

Rating: 3 reels




Why you should watch it:
- there's no denying that it has excellent and terrifying horror

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the overall screenplay and plot lacks depth and character development