Brightburn 2019, Directed By David Yarovesky | Film Review - Time Out

Go to the contentGo to the footerNo thanksSubscribe

🙌Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

The best of Time Out straight to your inbox

We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities. Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city.

Enter email addressDéjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

No thanks

Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

The best things in life are free.

Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush).

Enter email address

Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

No thanks

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

No thanks

Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

Love the mag?

Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions.

Enter email address

Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

No thanks

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

Review

Brightburn3 out of 5 starsThis genuinely chilling premise – evil ‘Superman’ – offers efficient scares, even if the execution is muddled at times.

• Film
• Recommended

Thursday 6 June 2019ShareCopy LinkFacebookTwitterPinterestEmailWhatsAppWritten by Helen O’HaraFilm journalist, author and broadcasterAdvertising

Time Out says

We’ve had superhero comedies, romcoms and Westerns, so it was only a matter of time before we got a true superhero horror. This low-budget effort leans heavily on jump scares and creeps before engaging with its premise, but when it does it’s as chilling as Superman’s freezing breath.

Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denham) are a married couple struggling to conceive when their prayers are apparently answered by an apparent meteor containing a baby boy. They raise the alien as their own, but when Brandon (Jackson A Dunn) turns 12 he starts exhibiting strange behaviour: superior strength, violent tendencies and sleepwalking. And that’s only the beginning.

Director David Yarovesky and producer James Gunn find some effective beats here, with their pre-adolescent villain making a chilling pass at a middle-school classmate and acting out violently when she recoils. Dunn’s fixed stare and quietude give Brandon a deeply unsettling edge, though the storytelling is unclear on whether he was always a dissembling sociopath or if the Breyers’ good son was effectively erased when his powers came to life. There’s none of the ethical wrestling over the use of his powers that made ‘Chronicle’ such a joy; just a near-immediate escalation from honour student to stalker/killer in a series of remarkably gory scenes.

Despite the brisk 90-minute runtime, the slow-burn build-up sometimes feels too slow. At least there’s no arguing with the last act, as Brandon gives into his instincts and we get to see what a ‘Man of Steel’ would do if he was unrestrained by a devotion to truth, justice or the American way.

Release Details

• Rated:15
• Release date:Wednesday 19 June 2019
• Duration:90 mins

Cast and crew

• Director:David Yarovesky
• Screenwriter:Mark Gunn, Brian Gunn
• Cast:
  • Elizabeth Banks
  • David Denman
  • Jackson A Dunn

Advertising

Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.

Sign up to our newsletter to enjoy Time Out without spending a thing (as well as options when you're feeling flush).Enter email addressDéjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

🙌Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

Popular movies

[image]

[category]

[title]

Latest newsMore news

[image]

[category]

[title]

Discover Time Out original video

 

Back to TopClose

Get us in your inbox

Email addressDéjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

instagramtiktokfacebooktwitteryoutube

About us

• Press office
• Investor relations
• Our awards
• Work for Time Out
• Editorial guidelines
• Privacy notice
• Do not sell my information
• Cookie policy
• Accessibility statement
• Terms of use
• Modern slavery statement
• Manage cookies

Contact us

• Advertising
• Time Out Market

Time Out Worldwide

• All Time Out Locations
• Africa
• Asia
• Europe
• North America
• South America
• South Pacific

Site Map© 2026 Time Out England Limited and affiliated companies owned by Time Out Group Plc. All rights reserved. Time Out is a registered trademark of Time Out Digital Limited.