Brightburn reaches a dim smoulder at best

The premise of Brightburn might be an interesting one, but it continues on its one-note, no-impact mission until it finally achieves its one truly chilling fright… by leaving the exit door wide open for a sequel to stagger through.

Very interesting idea. Very uninteresting results.

While Brightburn isn’t the only film this year to pull off this simple equation, it is definitely the dumbest of them.

First, that interesting idea. An alien spacecraft ditches in the woods in the dead of night. The sole occupant is a baby boy.

Brightburn has a very interesting idea with very uninteresting results. Picture: AP

Elizabeth Banks and Jackson A. Dunn star in the film. Picture: AP

The first responders are a childless couple living nearby, who decide to raise the interplanetary infant as their own.

So far, so Superman creation myth, right? For the first 12 years or so, kind of.

Then Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) hits puberty, and begins to harness his superpowers for evil, not good. What’s more, the kid is a stone-cold psychopath.

That’s him sticking his hand into the whirring blades of a lawnmower for kicks, slaughtering a bunch of chooks for being too noisy, and ending the life of any adult that starts getting in his face.

While it should be clear to Brandon’s clueless adoptive parents Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle (David Denman) that their kid is one dangerously broken spooky unit, they witness and forget every warning sign in the book until, of course, it is way too late.

The only truly chilling fright Brightburn delivers is that the door was left open for a sequel. Picture: AP

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Even then, the two gormless guardians can’t agree on a common game plan to combat an outer-space orphan so outta his mind.

While these dipsticks dither, Brightburn continues on its one-note, no-impact mission until it finally achieves its one truly chilling fright … by leaving the exit door wide open enough for a sequel to stagger through.

BRIGHTBURN (MA15+)

Director: David Yarovesky (The Hive)

Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Jackson A. Dunn, David Denman.

Rating: *1/2

A dim smoulder