A One Mann’s Movies review of “Brightburn” (2019).
Bob the Movie Man’s Rating:
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R.
Jump… for your love.
I normally dislike jump scares in movies. They are a sign of a desperate horror script that has nowhere else to go. Brightburn is different. It starts with a few jumps – both auditory and visual – that serve no real purpose in the story. It’s the director (David Yarovesky) giving the horror equivalent of a “nudge, nudge”. It says “Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride”!
And the warning is well deserved. It’s been a while since I’ve seen so many women (and not a few men) cowering into their partners.
The plot.
Childless couple Martha and Jonathan Kent… no, sorry, wrong film… Tori and Kyle Breyer (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) are living in Brightburn Kansas when an unearthly child is delivered to them – – out of the blue, as it were. Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) grows up as a weedy but highly intelligent 12 year old. But an alien call wakes Brandon into puberty in a wholly unusual way, and life in the normally quiet town of Brightburn is about to get a lot more concerning for the Sheriff’s department.
When you go down to the woods today… Elizabeth Banks as Tori Breyer. (Source: Columbia Pictures Corporation)
So it’s “Man of Steel Lite” then?
The similarities with a certain DC superhero backstory are stark and playfully whittled into an unfamiliar form. Even down to a flash of red cape as young Brandon rises from his bed taking his sheet with him. It’s a riff on a “what if”: what if the Man of Steel grew up not to be a mild-mannered reporter, but turned to the dark side instead?
But this is rather simplistic. The movie is outrageously predictable…. until it pulls your comfort rug suddenly from under your feet. Virtually nothing you expect to happen actually happens. Glory be! It’s a Hollywood film without a Hollywood film arc!
When you go down to the woods today… (part two). (Source: Columbia Pictures Corporation).
Saving Miss Banks.
With a CV that includes “Pitch Perfect 2“, “Pitch Perfect 3” and “The Happytime Murders” (with acting roles in the last two and – in the first horrifically xenophobic case – a directorial credit), Elizabeth Banks holds a special role of honour on this blog by being involved with movies that have consistently made my “Turkeys of the Year” list. So her involvement in this, was not a good sign.
But how wrong I was. Banks is actually very effective here as the desperate adoptive mother of the little monster: “You will ALWAYS be my baby boy” she coos, even when all seems hopeless. Equally good is David Denman as Brandon’s ‘father’.
The film takes its time to introduce them both as a genuinely loving and caring farming couple, and the pair come across so naturally that you can comfortably get to believe the “normal” before the “abnormal” arrives.
Young talent
Jackson A. Dunn plays young Brandon: if you recognise him, he played the young 12-year old Scott Lang in “Avengers: Endgame“. Here he is gloriously creepy as the supernatural child: both terrifying and utterly normal from scene to scene.
Dad (David Denman) regretting his advice to his son (Jackson A. Dunn) to chew his food really really well. (Source: Columbia Pictures Corporation).
Gore a’plenty.
The film effectively builds tension, through the use of well chosen music (by Tim Williams, who’s previously mostly done orchestration and conducting for a wide range of recent hit movies). That tension needs to be released…. and it is with some effective horror that hits 11 on the ketchup scale. There were apparently two short scenes cut by the BBFC to get the UK15 certificate, but it still feels that the producers (literally) got away with murder to get that certificate approved. (What great negotiators: get them on Brexit, now!)
If you are of the nervous/squeamish variety, this is probably a film worth you giving a miss.
I really *don’t* do “eyes” well. Ever since the bulls-eye dissection in junior school. nope, not for me. This was a (both) hands over eyes scene for me. (Source: Columbia Pictures Corporation).
A Yarvo mini-classic.
Director David “Yarvo” Yarovesky has previously worked with producer James Gunn on “Guardians of the Galaxy“, but this should be his breakout movie.
It’s budget was a mere $7 million. Yep, you heard that right. That’s a BvS quotient of 2.8%! It’s also over 28 times cheaper than the bloated blah-fest irrelevance that was “Dark Phoenix“. I know which movie I’d rather be stuck on a desert island with. (Assuming of course the desert island actually had a projector, DVD player and a large square of flat-tish cliff face to project on. Oh, and an electricity supply. This analogy is all getting harder by the minute).
The moral for any parent is to always take a regular glance at your child’s sketch book. (Source: Columbia Pictures Corporation).
“Brightburn” is a movie that I foresee will divide audiences but then build a reputation as a classic of the genre. It has the creepiness of an “Omen”; the jump scares of an “Alien”; the darkness of a “Midnight Special“; and the unpredictability of a “Cloverfield“. It’s not quite perfection: for me, its story stretches credibility in some places (that real action wasn’t taken by the legal/social car services earlier!). But it still deserves to be a big hit. I think it will be.
Trailer:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6eB0JT1DI4 .
