As he gets older, he discovers that he has special powers.
He is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive… you get the idea.
Hes Superman as a bad seed.
Credit: Boris Martin/Screen Gems
Theres certainly some genre-tweaking fun to be had with that bizarro-world, up-is-down, black-is-white premise.
But the movie is more or lessallpremise.
The rest is just an occasionally suspenseful, occasionally gory sci-fi riff on any number of earthbound creepy-kid thrillers.
They adopt the child and name him Brandon.
His doting parents initially dismiss it as puberty.
Meanwhile, a glowing, pulsating red something begins to beckon to him from the barn.
Gradually, Brandon begins to act spookier and spookier.
But even at a svelte 91 minutes, the movie feels padded.
Its missing the metaphorical layers and more assured pacing of 2016s similarly themedMidnight Special.
An end credits sequence strongly implies the possibility of furtherBrightburninstallments to come.
To some, that may come as promising news.
To others, I suspect it will feel like a threat.C+
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