When Superboy went bad
If you’re suffering from superhero fatigue, then this bleak mash-up of the Superman mythos with a grim and gory horror movie might be just what you’ve been waiting for...
Brightburn Dir David Yarovesky, US 2019 On UK release
With superheroes currently dominating the world of audiovisual entertainment, we have already seen a wide array of different approaches and subgenres, be they bright and colourful or gritty and violent; but a dark horror film exploring the subject of superheroes is definitely something unusual.
With Superman being one of the most iconic and easily recognisable comic book heroes of all time, you’d be hardpressed to find anyone who is completely unfamiliar with the Kryptonian’s origin story, and thus the groundwork for the setting of Brightburn has already been laid through decades of entertainment. This James Gunnproduced film asks what would happen if an alien child crashlanded on Earth and turned out to be not a super-powered hero but something with more sinister intentions. While having no connection with the DC Comics property, Brightburn still relies on recognisable imagery from Kal-El’s lore, which the film then turns on its head to create a genuinely eerie narrative in this grim, super-powered horror.
Some viewers may not like the film’s decision to avoid telling us anything much about its central character, the young Brandon Breyer, but with the cardinal cinematic sin of exposition dumping still being committed on a regular basis, Brightburn’s minimal digging into the origins of this alien boy is a definite plus.
In terms of the acting, Elizabeth Banks is her usual, likeable self, and David Denman puts in a solid effort as the loving yet sceptical dad, who says everything the audience is thinking. The real star of the film, however, is Jackson A Dunn as Brandon. At times channelling Damien Thorn, Dunn’s presence generates a real sense of menace without ever becoming hammy. As a result, the young actor is a believable threat in a film that could all too easily have descended into a derivative cheesefest about superheroes gone supervillain.
Instead of the superhero element overpowering the narrative, the emphasis is firmly kept on the horror from start to finish, and while Brightburn hardly reinvents the horror genre, it nonetheless goes against its conventions just enough to remain interesting throughout. The classic superhero moments have an unusually unpleasant type of shock factor when viewed through this bleak lens. Similarly, as a horror movie, the film doesn’t shy away from gore, but a combination of relative infrequency and genuine gruesomeness makes it impactful.
While never scaling the narrative heights of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Brightburn nonetheless fits in well with the more niche type of films associated with the Gunn clan and their associates. It’s also one of the better horror films to be released so far this year, and a nice subversion of the superhero films we have become accustomed to in recent years. Leyla Mikelssen
★★★★ ★
Ma Dir Tate Taylor, US 2019 On UK release
When it comes to contemporary horror, production company Blumhouse seem to have had their fingers in many of the bloodspattered pies on offer in recent years. While the company has served up some delectable fare – like the magnificent Get Out – other offerings have been less successful; the laughably moronic Truth or Dare left viewers with a bad taste in their mouths, and now with Ma we get a distinctly mixed bag of creepy treats.
Octavia Spencer plays oddball veterinary assistant Sue Ann, a middle-aged woman who befriends a group of teens when she helps them buy alcohol at a local liquor store. Teen characters in Blumhouse films tend to be outrageously gullible, and so the youngsters merrily accept Sue Ann’s subsequent offer to let them hang out and party in her basement. Naturally, things soon take a disturbing turn, and a devious plot begins to unfold as Sue Ann’s ulterior motives slowly come to light.
Discovering what those motives are is one of the film’s intriguing pleasures, and it does rather well at sustaining the mystery of what horrors lie in store for the unsuspecting teens, and, perhaps more importantly, why. Octavia Spencer clearly has a lot of fun channelling her inner Annie Wilkes, and the film is well worth a watch on the basis of her performance alone. However, the rest of the movie surrounding her is an odd and not entirely successful one. The dialogue is often awkwardly stilted, and at times one wonders if there is supposed to be a satirical subtext or whether the filmmakers merely ran with the concept
The emphasis is kept firmly on the horror from start to finish