Brightburn (2019) * *

Directed by:  David Yarovesky

Starring:  Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Emmie Hunter, Gregory Alan Williams, Meredith Hagner

Stop me if you've heard this story before.   A kindly, childless Kansas couple who own a vast farm (because don't all residents of Kansas live on one?) discovers a spaceship crashed in their backyard with an infant inside.   They raise the boy as their own and as he grows toward his teenage years, they discover he has vast, otherworldly powers.    I know, I know, we have another Superman story on our hands, right?   Not quite.   The boy, named Brandon Breyer (Dunn) uses his powers for evil and not good.   He turns into a quasi-slasher, gruesomely dispatching his victims with ruthless sadism.   

Brandon's parents Tori (Banks) and Kyle (Denman) love Brandon, and are a bit slow on the uptake as they notice Brandon's eerie behavior and chalk it up to teenage angst.    They seem perplexed that a child who arrived via spaceship might not be altogether normal.    He breaks the hand of a female classmate whose only crime was to take a liking to him, and other adults who got on the wrong side of him wind up dead in ugly ways.    One victim gets a shard of glass stuck in her eye, and we are privileged to witness the poor woman dislodge the glass and bleed all over the place.    For his next trick, Brandon lifts up a truck and drops it straight down, causing the driver to smash his open mouth into the steering wheel and essentially breaking off the bottom half of his face.    Why do we need to see this over-the-top display of gore and blood?  

Coming in at a taut 85 minutes, Brightburn (named after the town in which the bulk of the movie takes place) reminded me of The Omen in nearly every fiber of its being.   The pitch was probably "The Omen Meets Superman."   The kid should've been renamed Damian.   Denman and Banks play a grounded, sympathetic couple who bend over backwards to believe in Damian's, er, Brandon's innocence.    They are slow studies, yes, but because they wanted a child so bad and one fell into their laps a dozen years ago, they want to believe he is not a monster.   But, there comes a point in which you just want to shake them into accepting reality much faster than they do. 

But, a monster he is, and he accepts his nature with nary a second thought.   Brandon narrows his eyes and performs mayhem.   There is very little suspense, except to guess how Brandon will dispatch his next pitiful victim.    Despite my misgivings, I can't completely write off Brightburn as a waste of time.    The movie is briskly paced and creates an eerie atmosphere of dread.    A sequel has been proposed, and if one should come to fruition, I suggest less blood and guts and maybe the introduction of a hero who could thwart Brandon.    It will get boring just watching him off one poor schnook after another.