Brightburn

One of the common staple genres that the summer film season offers us is the horror genre--with more soon to be released. While this genre isn't one of my favorites, once in a while, one will come along and surprise me. "Us" had a very interesting premise, and although this film, "Brightburn" has an interesting premise, the final outcome left the audience with more questions than answers.

 

After a difficult struggle with fertility, Tori Breyer's dreams of motherhood come true with the arrival of a mysterious baby boy. Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) appears to be everything Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and her husband, Kyle (David Denman), ever wanted--bright, talented and curious about the world. But as Brandon nears puberty, powerful darkness manifests within him, and Tori becomes consumed by terrible doubts about her son. Once Brandon begins to act on his twisted urges, those closest to him, including Noah and Merilee McNichol (Matt Jones and Meredith Hagner), Caitlyn (Emmie Hunter) and Erica (Becky Wahlstrom), find themselves in grave danger.

 

Others to round out the cast are Gregory Alan Williams as Sheriff Deever, Terence Rosemore as P.E. teacher, Jennifer Holland as Ms. Espenschied, Elizabeth Becka as principal, Annie Humphrey as Deputy Aryes and Steve Agee as EJ.

 

This was adequately and effectively directed by David Yarovesky ("The Hive" '14) plus TV and video shorts. Considering the limited feature film experience in the director's chair, this filmmaker was able to extract that suspenseful element to keep the audience glued to the edge of their seats biting their nails. His actors were paced and staged well, so assuredly he will receive more work. Where the problem lies with this film is that of the writing by Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn ("2gether" (TV movie) 2000, "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" '12) plus TV and a video. As I mentioned prior, this film has a fresh and interesting premise to an otherwise questionable genre. The problem with this is that this film ended up having more questions, especially by films' end than answers. Let's see, where shall I begin? What planet did this child come from? Why did he come to destroy our planet? Why didn't he kill all who were 'in his way'? Why did his powers come about at age 12--why not later? And who was this 'powerful darkness'? Was it a demonic thing or some other entity? There were way too many questions. There was a tremendous amount of buildup only to ultimately end up being anticlimactic. Producer James Gunn ("Guardians of the Galaxy") surely had a geat influence here, but only to need of a more polished script. Maybe the writers need to hone their talent on more TV and try again another day.

 

Again, the premise of this was the best aspect about it. Think about it: a horror film where the killer is an extraterrestrial. It certainly is an original and fresh approach to an old genre. It's just too bad that Hollywood hadn't gotten a more seasoned writer, but if you like horror, then you'll probably like this.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 2                                       Rated: R                                          90mins.