James Gunn unleashed his creative filmmaking with a unique superhero or, in this case, supervillain story called “Brightburn (2019).” The tale follows a 12-year-old kid, Brandon Breyer, who lives an everyday life until he discovers his supernatural abilities and turns evil. The film is centered around one central idea: “What if Superman but evil?”. From its conception, “Brightburn ” was James Gunn’s epic project meant for a certain audience.
The dark tone of the aforementioned question appealed to him enough to produce the film, penned down by his brother Brian Gunn and cousin Mark Gunn. Director David Yarovesky, who has had enough superhero movie experience, understood Gunn’s vision. With unconventional superheroes like good-for-nothing losers in The “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) and criminals in “ The Suicide Squad” (2021), James Gunn demonstrated he can present enigmatic ideas in the most promising ways.
“Brightburn” was Gunn’s take on the classic villain origin stories, but he only went on with the horror genre this time. The grim setting of the small town, eerie music, and uncomfortable scenes brought the final horror touch to the overall bleak tones of the film. Another exciting element of the film was the sci-fi genre that it falls into. The mystery of alien forces and the less understood source of Brandon’s powers adds a thrilling layer to the movie. Unlike most horror films, “Brightburn” does not show us the counterpart of the sinister side. The plain darkness of the film sets it apart, limiting it to a particular audience more inclined toward exploring the antagonist’s side of the story.
Brightburn (2019) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The Extraordinary Child
The film begins with a couple, Kyle (David Denman) and Tori (Elizabeth Banks), in their room surrounded by books on fertility and pregnancy. They are startled as they hear a noise, and a sudden earthquake cuts off the electricity. A crashed spaceship and a red light appear through their window. The scene cuts to the camera roll of the couple’s newborn child. The adorable videos of the family disclose that they were blessed with a baby boy whom they named Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn). Flash forward 10 years. Brandon is a grown-up living a normal life with his parents. It is revealed that he was adopted, and it’s the best thing that ever happened to the couple who were having trouble conceiving a child. After Tori finds Brandon in the barn, Kyle chides him and forbids him from going there in the future.
As the story progresses, Brandon shows signs of exceptional physical strength. He hurls his lawn mower away when it doesn’t start, revealing his temperamental nature. Another unusual thing about him is that he sleepwalks. Brandon hears his name being called out by the red light hidden in the barn. One night, Brandon reaches there in the middle of the night and aggressively tugs the door, only to be awakened by his mother, who follows him there. She takes him home and lies to Kyle about where he was earlier.
Brandon is also an academically brilliant student and feels alienated from other kids who are not as bright as him. He develops a crush on his classmate Caitlyn Connor, who tells him that intelligent people will rule the planet. On his 12th birthday, Brandon raises his voice at his father when he disapproves of the gun his uncle gives him. His parents worry about him but remain calm, dismissing his anger as teenage angst.
On the weekend, the family goes out in the woods for camping. Brandon somehow escapes from the site for a brief time and ends up sneaking into Caitlyn’s room. Caitlyn gets scared as her mom enters the room, and she tells her that the person standing in her bedroom window is Brandon Breyer. After that, Brandon quickly returns to the campsite, but his mother doesn’t notice him gone. The next day, Tori finds Brandon drawing. However, he rushes away when she tries to sneak. Brandon is obsessed with a logo that is shaped like two Bs drawn parallel to each other and draws it excessively on his notebooks with red ink.
The Supernatural Source
Kyle spots Brandon on his farm near the chickens that are clucking and flying in the disturbance. Kyle sends Brandon away from them and later finds all the chickens brutally killed. He narrates the incident to his wife, describing Brandon’s bizarre presence near the chickens, but Tori ignores him, saying it is impossible for a 12-year-old to do it and that it must be the wolf. During a fun physical education activity in school, Caitlyn makes Brandon fall on the ground as she is afraid of him. She then calls him a pervert, which infuriates him, and he ends up crushing her hand.
The school suspends Brandon for two days while Erika, Caitlyn’s mom, yells at Brandon’s parents and urges the school to take strict action against him. She also tells them how Brandon stalked her daughter earlier. But no one believes her as Brandon was camping with his parents. The school authorities schedule him to take regular sessions with their only counselor, Ms. Merilee, his aunt.
At night, Brandon is summoned by the voices again and sleepwalks to the barn where the spaceship is hidden. He slams the trapdoor this time, pulling it apart. Tori finds Brandon levitating and saying the phrase, “Take the world.” Brandon cuts himself from the spaceship, which is bizarre, considering how he has never bruised or bled his entire life. As the spacecraft is discovered, Tori reveals the truth to Brandon and tells him that he is not adopted. He arrived at their doorstep in a spaceship after she and Kyle prayed and prayed for a baby. He is their gift. Brandon gets angry over this lie and runs away to the house. The following day, he seems incredibly calm and says that he’s okay with everything.
The Sinistrous Killings
Brandon flees away with a mask and goes to the restaurant where Erika works. He covers the window panes with his symbol and kills Erika. In his counseling session, Brandon shows no signs of growth and exhibits remorseless behavior concerning his actions. He tells Merilee how he is superior to others. That night, he reaches Merilee’s house and forbids her from being honest about his condition with her boss. She tells him that she will have to do her job.
After Merilee sleeps, Brandon snoops in, but Noah arrives and catches Brandon in his closet. He screams at him and threatens to tell his father about him, but Brandon uses his abilities to raise his car on their drive back home and drops it to the ground, murdering him. When Brandon arrives home, his parents ask him where he was, but Brandon lies and says he was playing with his friends and is late because his shirt got ripped.
He also refuses to show them his shirt and goes to his room. Kyle and Tori do not believe him and get a call from the hospital. When they tell Noah that his uncle died, Brandon shows no sign of remorse or empathy. Kyle bursts out on Brandon in grief and later finds his bloody t-shirt. He grabs it to show his wife, but Tori refuses to believe him.
Brightburn (2019) Movie Ending Explained:
What Happens To Brandon Breyer?
Kyle takes Brandon on a hunting trip in the forest and tries to shoot him from behind. The attempt fails as the bullet bounces away from Brandon’s head. Brandon looks at his father, disgusted, and uses heat vision to kill him. Back at home, the local sheriff arrives and inquires about Tori, asking him about her son’s whereabouts. Tori forbids him from looking around the house because his husband is not home. The sheriff shows her the symbol that is found at the crime scenes, but Tori refuses to recognize it. After the sheriff leaves, she runs away to Brandon’s room and discovers the same symbol drawn in his notebooks. She calls Kyle. But Brandon picks up the phone and tells her that Kyle’s gone and he’s coming back for her.
Brandon returns to the house and starts demolishing it while Tori calls 911. The deputy and sheriff arrive but are killed by Brandon in front of Tori, who narrowly escapes. Remembering the scar Brandon got earlier from the spaceship’s hull, she runs towards the barn and grabs a piece. She calls Brandon’s name and tries to lure him by telling him he will always remain her baby. As she tries to stab him from behind, he grabs her hand, turns apoplectic as he screams, and holds Tori while he flies several feet above and then drops her to die.
An airplane flies in the sky, which Brandon eyes, and the following day, it is found to have crashed in the house, destroying it completely, thus erasing all evidence from last night. Brandon’s mark could be seen on the crashed airplane. The mid-credit scenes roll and it could be seen in the news that Brandon has now become a mysterious killer known as ‘Brightburn.’ Several witnesses and news reports about the wildfires and destroyed buildings appear on the screen. A conspiracy theorist further elaborates on the mysterious incidents caused by cryptids all around the world that are harming human beings and waiting for their time to invade and take over the world completely. He is asking everyone to realize they exist before it’s too late.
What does the Mid-Credit Scene Reveal?
The mid-credit scene is where the conspiracy theorist (Michael Rooker) mentions the evil creatures that roam around on the Earth and to do something about them. This scene could be seen as an indication from the filmmakers of a potential universe of villains waiting to be unraveled. The guy mentions a half-man, half-sea creature that capsizes fishing vessels and a witch woman who chokes people out with ropes and cords. These are explicit references to Aquaman and Wonder Woman. However, they do not play the superhero figures we know in this universe.
Looking back at “Brightburn,” the character serves as a foil to Superman. Clark Kent and Brandon Breyer’s origin story is the same. Clark comes from another planet called Kryptonite, while Brandon crash lands from a spaceship with an alien connection. They share similar superpowers like heat vision, super strength, flight, and invulnerability. They are only vulnerable to the metal from their home planets. Therefore, it is safe to assume that DC has planned more foil characters for their superheroes, and they may emerge sometime soon. The ending of “Brightburn” is vague yet expandable, opening doors that can take the supervillain’s idea to great heights.
Brightburn (2019) Movie Themes Analysed:
Bad Parenting
Even though Tori and Kyle try their best to be great parents for their kids, they seem to neglect some of the weirdest situations Brandon puts them through. This is primarily true for Tori, who defends Brandon against Kyle from the first day. When Brandon hides in the barn and is called out by his father, Tori intervenes and says, “He was only there for about two minutes.” She also lies to Kyle when she finds Brandon in the barn and says that he sleepwalked downstairs. Tori keeps telling Kyle to go easy on him when he yells at him for not being able to keep the gun he received as a present.
Similarly, the two of them completely ignore the Caitlyn incident, in which he crushes her hand and does not apologize even once. Tori also refuses to believe that Brandon has anything to do with the chickens, saying that a 12-year-old child could never do that. She constantly ignores what Brandon does or what he is capable of because he is their miracle. Moreover, she doesn’t get convinced when Kyle shows her the bloody t-shirt that it was Brandon who killed Noah. All of this leads to Brandon becoming secretive and a liar as he gets to make a fool out of his parents while he kills locals.
Sense of Superiority
The scene in the counselor’s office is the first time Brandon manifests where exactly his evil thoughts are coming from. As he comes to know about his powers and realizes he is extraordinary and more capable than those around him, he becomes arrogant. In the session with his aunt Merilee, Brandon says he realized he is special. It is because his birth parents were not from a foolish place like this. He further says that he knows he’s something else…something superior.
All of Brandon’s victims, except his parents, were harmed for trivial reasons. Caitlyn gets hurt for calling him a pervert, Erika dies because she insults him, and Noah dies because he threatens to complain to his parents about his whereabouts. He also feels no remorse for killing his beloved uncle. All of this suggests that Brandon only hurt the people around him because he could.
Exploitation of Power
After attaining his powers, all Brandon does is use it in a criminal way. He takes revenge for the insults that came along his way from Erika, kills both his parents when they try to attack him, murders his uncle, and by the end of the “Brightburn,” we get to see Brandon crashing a plane into his house, taking the lives of so many people. The airplane scene is a moment that can be juxtaposed with Superman as he rescues an airplane with his strength while Brightburn does the opposite. This shows how the same kind of power can be manipulated in both ways.
