The film Brightburn, produced by James Gunn, mixes several genres together. From the story of how Superman grew up in an ordinary family on Earth, the film creates a new frightening reality, changing the idea of superheroes. It turns out to be a very bloody story.

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Tori and Kyle Brier are a couple who hope unsuccessfully to have a baby. Not far from their farm, something similar to a meteorite lands, in which
they find the baby. The couple decides to keep the baby with them, pretending that they adopted him.

Years later, the boy, given the name Brandon Brier, becomes an estranged teenager suffering from bullying at school. To support him, Tori tells his son that he is special. She does not yet suspect that this is indeed the case – after the 12th birthday, Brandon discovers an inexplicable strength in himself. And as soon as the boy learns to control it, guided by anger, he will be able to use his abilities against people whom Brandon considers an obstacle in his path.

When the first trailer for “Breitbjorn” appeared online, it attracted a lot of attention – the picture promised to be an alternative to DC and Marvel films, imbued with solemn heroism. Interestingly, it was produced by James Gunn, who had previously worked on film adaptations of Guardians of the Galaxy.

In Breitbjorn, Gunn turned to the dark side, which coincided with a dark period in his career when the Walt Disney Company fired James as director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 for inappropriate Twitter posts. During this ill-fated time, Gunn focused on a different interpretation of the essence of Superman, who is used to being perceived as a good savior of the Earth. In the new film, a child of alien origin is the source of evil.

For James Gunn, Breitbjorn will be a family project in its own way. The script for him was written by his brother Brian, together with his cousin Mark Gunn. The director was taken by David Yarovesky (there were no family ties), in the filmography of which there were no outstanding robots yet. Together they focused on turning Superman into an antagonist, bringing chaos to this world.

The film has a really interesting concept and a powerful marketing campaign. Because of this, even before its release, Breitbjorn had a lot of expectations – we were promised to show a rethinking of the cult story. It would be an understatement to say that all of them were completely justified.

The reason for this is the pace of the narrative, which in the first part of the film is perceived as somewhat moderate. The second part of the tape compensates for this shortcoming by filling Breitbjorn with elements of horror. Sometimes on the screen, such turns look like too sharp jumps between genres, but for Yarovesky this becomes a signature move.

The best moments of “Breitbjorn” consist of dynamic movements, alternating with tense anticipation. The most frightening effect is produced by the sound track, which literally jams with loud sounds, as is customary to do in horror films.

Sharp visual and audio sensations make up for gaps in the main character’s origin story. Probably, understatement is also used as a technique that can be used to scare.

A good job is being done by the young actor Jackson A. Dunn (before that, he appeared in a cameo role in the final part of The Avengers). His character goes through a transformation from an ordinary child into a source of destructive power. And yet he maintains a frightening calmness. Contrasted with his composure are the disturbing experiences of his adoptive parents, played by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman.

In general, Breitbjorn turns out to be a rather cruel and bloody spectacle. Its sinister plotting balances out the shortcomings of the director’s work. But after watching it, the obsessive impression remains that the film could have turned out better.