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Brightburn’s ‘Superboy’ Isn’t Pure Evil—Which Is Why It Works: WATCH

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Jackson A. Dunn in Brightburn. Credit: Screen Gems

Brightburn (the title refers to the Breyers’ hometown), is a superhero origin story reimagined as a horror movie. What if Clark Kent, instead of being grateful to the parents who raised him and a defender of truth, justice and the American way, had been a power-hungry sociopath whose motto was “take the world”?

The New York Times says, “The gore and the scares work pretty well. The director, David Yarovesky, and the screenwriters, Mark Gunn and Brian Gunn, hit the genre beats cleanly and efficiently. What makes Brightburn a little better than average is the time it spends observing Brandon with Tori and Kyle, his loving, increasingly alarmed mom and dad, who are played with excellent game faces by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman.”

Brightburn doesn’t try to hide that it’s an even dark take on Zack Snyder’s divisive Man of Steel. Director David Yarovesky and producer James Gunn explore what would happen if the farm boy wfrom outer space became a villain instead of a hero, says Comic Book Resources. “However, as the film progresses, we see the kid in question, Brandon Breyer (Jackson A. Dunn), doesn’t turn evil out of the blue: He’s the product of an alien program that engineered him from birth to be a weapon.”

Brandon’s ship crashes in Kansas, where he’s discovered by the Bryers. It’s effectively life on the Kent farm thereafter. He grows up helping his father Kyle (David Denman) repair tractors while trying to be a good son to his mother, Tori (Elizabeth Banks), and grappling with his social awkwardness and supreme intelligence.

Watch the trailer below. Brightburn is in theaters now.

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