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movie review - Brightburn

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

The premise of this movie is that a foundling turns up at a farm, and as he grows up he is found to have special powers. Just like Superman. But instead of a heroic, selfless character, the boy turns into a monster.

I think they almost pulled this off. Their mistake in my opinion was in making the boy the product of an alien empire that is driven to consume new planets. The boy has no agency as he develops, he's simply doing what he was programmed to do. I think it would have been a lot more interesting if he'd developed character flaws on his own, perhaps because he's a teenager with unlimited abilities. Anything that would have been relatable. But no, instead we get something inauthentic that feels like it was cranked out by an AI. Worsening this is that the adults in the thing all behave like morons, waving away very real red flags and even strange gaps in the kids whereabouts. It's all wrapped up in a final scene of such stupidity that I regretted watching the thing. Thanks for the recommendation, Netflix!

Avoid.