“Behold, I teach you the superman. He is lightning, he is madness!
-Friedrich Nietzche,
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Superman has always been the epitome of hope, the kind and straight edge superhero, the very opposite of the dark vigilante that is Batman. Many superheroes have had to deal with a dark past or with inner demons but what if there is no dark past? What if the hero is in the inner demon?
Brightburn: Son of Evil takes the classic superman tale and reinvents it for the horror genre. The story of “a baby from another planet who has come to Earth to become a symbol of hope” is given a new persona and is instead created to become something sinister.
In the book “Supergods”, acclaimed comicbook writer Grant Morrison says –
Superheroes make everything more entertaining. Add superheroes and a startling and provocative new genre springs to life.
And this is exactly what “Brightburn: Son of Evil” brings us, a Horror Superhero mashup, fans of both genres will enjoy.
We all know that feeling, cheering Superman as he beats up the bad guys, rescues Lois Lane and saves the day. Its exciting, its thrilling, it feels good. Now take all of those feelings and throw them out the window because “Brightburn” is not that kind of superhero movie.
Much like Superman’s hometown of Smallville which is in Kansas, Brightburn is set in a familiar small rural town, where families live in farms, have barns and raise chickens. Must be an ideal location for finding an alien baby in your backyard and raising him while discovering his powers. There’s privacy and less prying eyes on noisy neighbors.
Superman’s symbolic “S” insignia on his chest takes the form of a mirrored imaged of a double “B” placed against each other. If the “S” insignia was a symbol for “hope”, Brightburn’s is one of death.
Kyle (David Denman) and Tori (Elizabeth Banks), the Bryers are a young couple in Brightburn who have been having trouble conceiving. The one night, as if by some answered prayer, a mysterious meteor shower brings them a tiny infant, in his own space craft, wrapped in blood red cloth.
They name the baby Brandon and raise them as their own.
Brandon grows up as a shy twelve year old who is extremely intelligent in school and who is bullied by it. Then one night, the spacecraft which brought him to Earth, locked away in the Bryer’s barn turns on with blinding red lights, and an unintelligible garble which seems to be calling on to Brandon.
Brandon asleep in his bed, convulses violently, his eyes open to reveal bright red irises and nothing is ever the same again.
Save for some lull moments, you will wince, you will look away and fear for the people of Brightburn as they suffer under the wrath of Brandon Bryer who was once a seemingly ordinary twelve year old boy but is now an all powerful being hellbent on spreading chaos and death.
As a mother watching the film, I could relate to the impossible task of having to come to terms that your child has turned into something truly unspeakable and the incredibly talented Elizabeth Banks delivers on that account. Defending her son up to the very last minute before realizing its up to her to put a stop to him.
8/10 -An upbeat Billie Eilish track, aptly named: “Bad Guy” wraps up the film and it works!