Brightburn: Filho das Trevas

Tagline was suggesting it would be an interesting take on the reversal of superman premise. But instead of exploring why and what makes someone a hero or an evildoer, that was completely overridden and it became just a horror movie with gore elements, with "evil superman" being just a wallpaper theme. It's not a bad horror, mind you, but for me it felt like a very interesting opportunity was lost here.

This film has so much promise, it just lacks a special kind of substance. I had rather high hopes for it but it just lacked a killer blow. Maybe they're saving something bigger for a sequel. The biggest moments they saved as a sizzle reel during the credits? I guess they ran out of budget or something. The horror elements were cool, the kid was actually pretty decent. Just wanted more.

Tori and Kyle Breyer are a young couple living in Brightburn, a small town in Kansas. They long for a child but are unable to conceive. Then one night a craft crashes in the woods; in it Tori finds a baby boy. They see it as a gift, name him Brandon and raise him as their adopted son. He seems fairly normal apart from being exceptionally intelligent; then, as he reaches puberty he starts to change. He gradually becomes much stronger and develops superpowers; powers which he tries to hide from his parents. Occasionally they become obvious and anybody who crosses him or discovers his secret is in real danger... and if he isn't stopped the rest of the world might be too.

This film is a fun mix of a superhero and horror genres. It starts at a fairly gentle pace but once it becomes apparent that Brandon isn't like other children the horror elements kick in. There aren't a lot of deaths but those that there are, are surprisingly gory. The idea of having somebody with superpowers who has no intention of helping anybody, has zero concern for others and a willingness to kill makes a nice change from those films centred on all the do-gooding superheroes. The way Brandon discovered his powers and quickly started to abuse them was handled well enough although it might have been good to have a couple of off screen incidents before showing us his darker side so it wasn't obvious he was bad so soon... that is a minor quibble though. The special effects are pretty good; making the gory scenes disturbingly impressive. The actors do a fine job bringing their characters to life. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of horror and superheroes... it could almost be an origin story for a new character in TV series 'The Boys'.

Not a bad film at all. Kept me interested and watching. The stunts and the gore were fabulous. The acting was great. The kid was very good in it. Decent atmosphere and music to go with it. Paves the way to another film should they do wish too. Entertaining.

I almost didn't give this a shot. Have been considering watching the modern "Firestarter" movie. A reviewer on another site suggested that Brightburn was better. I don't watch trailers, as they tend to destroy movies (for me). I prefer a brief description, and perhaps the leading cast.

Camera/video effects were more than acceptable, acting was acceptable, the gore was a welcome surprise (lol), and the story was certainly more than engaging enough.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. I do prefer to go in fairly ignorant. At less than 90 minutes, it felt a little rushed. But for some, that might be the sweet spot for such a flick. I could definitely see watching this again. Probably in the near future! And I'm definitely interested in a sequel!