BrightBurn (May 24, 2019) Directed by David Yarovesky

Didn't pull many punches. Quite a bold superhero horror film. The gore on offer is actually much more graphic than I expected it to be and thought it was quite effective in that regard. I found myself digging my nails into the seat twice in reaction to two pretty nasty on-screen incidents. I'm genuinely surprised Hollywood greenlit this given some of the chilling scenes involving children. Even the scenes involving the protag and other adult characters are quite tense and unexpectedly chilling. Felt my blood run cold during some of the exchanges between the boy and his elders.

There is a bit of a Lovecraftian vibe going on in the background of the story.

It isn't perfect though:

Matt Jones' character reminded me too much of his BB depiction of the wally Badger. Babytalking a car while something supernatural is occurring and threatening your life came off as corny and out of place with the tone that the film had set prior to this.

The disconnect between the growing suspicions of the parents of their 'son' Brandon's complicity in a number of gruesome episodes in Brightburn followed by their casual way of addressing and speaking to him felt a little odd. It didn't seem to be an effort to placate his nascent rage and monomaniacal urge to 'take the world' so just came across as peculiar.

The length of time it took for them to twig to his actions seemed driven by the plot rather than by their faculties as characters. The central conceit is tough to swallow too (alien baby lands in backyard let's adopt it without concerns about its origins, etc) but since the story is a dark take on Superman then we'll lay the blame for that at the door of the writers of the original Superman film.

Disquieting and disturbing film. Enjoyed it more than I expected to and will definitely
be up for the sequel. Felt like there was a bigger story to be told than the one in the film so the bold, dark ending at least opens up the prospect of a sequel that expands the scope of the story and world. Hope Michael Rooker is in the sequel as the end credits suggest.
 
Basically found this to be pants. Not even the lovely Banks could save it. Cliched dialogue (wish I’d gotten a quid for every time someone said buddy or baby!), predictable story, although I’m giving it an extra mark for not bottling the ending.
Mostly I flitted between boredom and mild irritation.
4/10
 
Enjoyed this ... enough.

The horror elements are good fun but tonally its a bit jarring - comedy moment didn't really sit for me.
 
Just spotted this on Twitter - 12 years time we could see a superhero!

Seriously though, how could anyone dump a newborn in a bag in the woods? o_O

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That's depressing. How could someone be so callous towards a newborn? Poor wee girl. Hope she finds a loving home and has a happy upbringing.

Re. the film, the more I think about it the more I appreciate it. Yeah if you've seen the original Superman then you're going over old ground in terms of the plot but just seeing it go in a dark and different direction gave the story enough vigour and tension to make it work, and the ending
genuinely surprised me given the moment earlier in the film when Kevin - sorry, Brandon - gashes his palm on the ship he arrived in thereby telegraphing a possible ending where mum or dad saves the day.

We Need to Talk About Kevin crossed with a superhero/villain film is what it reminds me of now that I think about it.
 
Yeah, regarding your spoiler I thought that would end up differently as well.
 
Just replying to your point from the other thread in this one @Robothamster

The story flew along, if anything I think they could have fleshed out the kids change from nice helpful lad to horrible little sod a bit more. That would be my main criticism.

Thing is though that
he was a nice lad until that creepy chanting voice from his ship in the barn triggered him. Remember the scene near the start where Brandon talks about a certain species of wasp that smuggle their young into the nest of their natural prey who then do all the hard work of bringing it up only for the intruder to return to its own kind once it reaches maturity? Brandon is the parasitic wasp in the analogy and has possibly been sent to Earth as a weapon in the vanguard for a larger alien invasion.

Edit - The parents had no chance once the voice began broadcasting. They should have destroyed the ship soon after finding him.

As an aside, that voice gave me the heebie-jeebies! Very Lovecraftian.
 
@Stockholm yes that's a good point re: the wasp story :smashin:
 

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