by Larry Legion
Hello readers. It is I, Larry Legion, writing from the depths of Castle Greyscale to bring you my review of a sinister little film titled “Brightburn.”
“Brightburn” is the story of a modern Midwestern couple struggling to have a child of their own, only to be gifted a very special child from some unspecified dark corner of the universe.
Tori and Kyle Breyer, played by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman, respectively, are shaken during an evening act of lovemaking by some large lava-like object which crashes into the woods near their rural Kansas farmhouse. The two venture out into the woods to find what appears to be an alien ship containing a human infant. They decide that everything is fine and that it will be perfectly normal to raise this gift from the heavens as their own baby boy. They name the child Brandon, hide the alien ship in the barn next to the house and go about living their lives together as if nothing unusual had happened.
Brandon Breyer, played by Jackson A. Dunn, appears to be an intelligent prepubescent boy who likes to draw and listen to music. He’s also a loner with a high IQ who enjoys talking about maggots! One night, Brandon starts to hear voices coming from the hidden ship beneath the barn. This is when our sunny little family sci-fi drama starts to take a dark turn. Tori finds Brandon in the barn uncontrollably yanking on some doors trying to get to the ship. He wakes from this minor conniption a bit confused and is taken back to bed by Tori, who says nothing of his freak-out to Kyle. At his 12th birthday party, Brandon is presented a rifle by his Uncle Noah but is forbidden to keep it by his overprotective father. This sends our little guy into shocking fits of rage, which make his parents start to wonder if raising an alien child might not have been such a great idea in the first place.
Everything unravels, and the voices from the hidden ship take full possession over Brandon’s mind and body, telling him to “take the world.”
You’re probably thinking this is just an attempt at a Superman remake with a dark twist. Well, you’re almost right. Both Brandon and Kel-El arrive from outer space with special powers and abilities. Kal-El comes to save the day with his strength and good nature, but Brandon comes to destroy it by completely giving into his more sociopathic tendencies. I don’t want to ruin it, but from here, our anti-hero goes full-on Richard Ramirez with a cape.
“Brightburn” is a real scream, a gory coming-of-age tale that contains a combo of some old-fashioned things we never get tired of: action, adventure, demon possession and serial killers. In a market full of safe films about superheroes, it takes real guts – and some fake ones, too – to release a film like this one. Hopefully there will be a sequel, and we all will see Brandon Breyer take the world.
