A patriotic superhero refigured as a monster
What if our heroes aren’t heroes? This past Memorial Day reminded us of the sacrifices made by the men and women of our military, while at the same time we’re also inundated with new stories about the president considering pardons for war criminals—soldiers in the U.S. military who killed prisoners, who shot innocent women and children, and are poised to face no consequences.
Goodness is not inherent. Having a specific job doesn’t preclude evil acts and cruelty. In a country in love with flag waving, surrounded by stories of selfless superheroes who protect the world from purple psychopaths, we need a reminder that the world is morally gray and oftentimes terrible. Brightburn hopes to be that reminder.
The film is very obviously inspired by the Superman origin story—a childless couple in Kansas find a baby in a spaceship that has crash landed on Earth and decide to raise the child on their farm as their own. The boy grows into a teenager and begins to exhibit strange powers—flight, strength, eye lasers, etc. But he also begins to change from the endearing, smart boy into something else, something angrier.
It’s an interesting premise, to be sure. The film does a lot of things well, particularly the inclusion of a distorted Superman iconography throughout. The execution is somewhat questionable, however.
Brandon Breyer—the Kryptonian stand-in—has his own symbol, costume, etc. His name even has the typical superhero alliteration. There’s a familiar red/blue motif that surrounds his persona. But as the films continues, you see how these symbols are more twisted versions of the Man of Steel.
Brandon’s symbol doesn’t inspire hope like the big S. The backwards Bs look primitive, and the frequency at which they’re scrawled across his notebooks and binders look more obsessive and damaged.
His cape is combined with a crude hood that covers his face, with a shoestring weave in the front, giving the impression of Cthulhu-like tentacles. Superman always played to his human side. Brandon Breyer slowly slips away from this, seemingly reveling in his alien nature.
The film also takes care to establish Brandon as a mostly normal child at the beginning of the film. It’s important to show that the family unit is intact. Brandon isn’t a Damien, ala The Omen.
He wasn’t always this way. Instead, there is a corruption that occurs due to the craft that brought him to Earth (this might have been a Smallville plotline—I can’t remember). It seems that Brandon begins to change when he’s old enough to understand where he came from.
All of these parts work well, making the film entertaining and interesting to watch. Unfortunately, Brightburn isn’t overly interested in answering questions.
Of course, it could be argued that the film is right to not answer questions. It is a horror movie after all. Brightburn fully embraces the horror aspect of the story by ramping up the blood and gore. Superman, of course, would be absolutely capable of annihilating humans at will. Brandon is and does, repeatedly. But his motivations for doing so seem avoidable.
The film appears to try to make the case that the boy is being controlled, at least at first. Later, though, it seems like he’s just acting out. The adults around him are incapable of having a real conversation with a child. If your child was sleepwalking, grunting in a strange language, and claiming to hear voices, wouldn’t you ask for some explanation? Like, I don’t know, what are the voices saying? Do you want to do what they say? Why?
If you suspected your child was injuring people on purpose, would you not hold a conversation with him about why he shouldn’t do that? Brandon might have some homicidal tendencies, but these are exacerbated by the complete failure of every adult surrounding him. It’s typical horror movie decision making, I suppose.
There was an opportunity here to make a powerful movie using a familiar story, subverting a genre in the process. The filmmakers never quite got to that level.
Overall, Brightburn feels like a missed opportunity. Had the filmmakers avoid some of the more typical horror film clichés, the film would have far more interesting. As it is, it’s a neat idea without much development.