We already know Superman well. As the first and most iconic superhero, he is the standard of all superheroes; have supernatural powers and noble hearts. He uses his strength only for virtue (and occasionally, for dating). We also have such an outward head about the story of his life that he can immediately point to the film that copied him. Well, Brightburn is a film that exploits this familiarity with an approach that sounds exciting: what if a human-like alien sent to earth is not a saint but a psychopath?
With this concept, we think the story of the film is written automatically. On the one hand, we can see that the film will display various kinds of “Superman things”, but this time in the evil version. Or maybe vice versa, focusing on the psychology of this vicious entity and the people around it who don’t expect what disaster they can carry. Unfortunately, for the size of a film with a visionary idea, it cannot fly too far with its premise. Brightburn is sold with the jargon of “evil Superman films in horror packaging”. And, he played exactly what we imagined before watching.
The beginning is a cheap budget copy of the Superman story that we already know. An alien child landed near a house belonging to a married couple without children in a suburb. Complete with garden and warehouse. The couple is the Breyer family (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) who decided to adopt the child because they had long longed for a baby. They gave him the name Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn).
For 10 years, Brandon grew up like a normal child despite being a bit introverted. He soon realized that he was superior to other children. He has intelligence above average and has never been hurt. He also often heard strange whispers from inside the warehouse while he was asleep. When Brandon knew that he was more than a special child, he instead used his ability to eliminate everything that was in his way.
