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Brightburn | 2019 | R | – 5.8.7

content-ratingsWhy is “Brightburn” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “horror violence/bloody images, and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a brief scene of a topless and bloody female corpse, a couple of kissing scenes, an implied sex scene and photos of lingerie models, several violent attacks ending in bloody wounds and death (both human and animal) or injuries accompanied by crunching and squishing sounds, and 21 F-words. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”


When a man and a woman (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) discover a small child in a crashed alien vessel they take him in and nurture him as if he is their own. However, they begin to question their decision when the boy turns 12 and unexplained violent acts begin to occur. Also with Jackson A. Dunn and Abraham Clinkscales. Directed by David Yarovesky. [Running Time: 1:31]

Brightburn SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A woman finds a dead woman’s body hanging from the wall of a barn (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details) and as lights flash we see a repeated view of the body with bare breasts visible.
 A husband and his wife kiss on a sofa (sex is implied). A husband and his wife sit in bed (she straddles his lap and she is wearing shirt tail top that reveals her bare legs to the thighs); they kiss, they speak briefly and he says to her, “Shut up and kiss me,” and they are interrupted (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A man comes home at night and kisses his sleeping wife on the cheek. A husband and wife hug and lie in bed together, clothed.
 A woman talks about when she and her husband were younger and they would, “Fool around in the basement” of her parent’s home. A man talks to his 12 year-old-son about sexual feelings and masturbating. A few references are made to a couple’s infertility.
 A woman finds several photos of women wearing bra and underwear and bikinis (cleavage, bare abdomens and upper thighs to the hips are seen) under her son’s mattress (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman wears a long shirt tail top that reveals her bare legs to the upper thighs. A woman wears a long T-shirt that reveals her bare legs to the thighs in her home.

Brightburn VIOLENCE/GORE 8

 – A woman alone in a diner is startled by noises and sees drawings of symbols on the windows, the lights begin to flicker and when one bulb bursts, she is cut on the face and a shard of glass penetrates her eye (we see the shard in her eye and she pulls it out with a squishing sound, causing blood to pour); the woman arms herself with a bat, hides in a pantry, we see something cutting through the large metal door and when the door is pulled away we see a figure floating in the air and it zooms toward the woman as she screams and we hear a squish (we do not see what happens to the woman). A man speeds along a dark road, hits something and swerves; the car dies and the man struggles to restart it when he sees a figure hovering off the ground in the distance, the figure disappears, the truck is lifted off the ground with its nose pointed down, the man yells as the truck is dropped back to the ground and we see his face slam into the steering wheel, tearing his jaw off; he lies in the rubble with a lot of blood on his mouth and face (we see his jaw flopping around and hear him gurgling blood). A man and a preteen boy go camping and hunting together and the man walks behind the boy and shoots him in the head; the boy stands up and faces the man, disappears and the man runs until the boy knocks him down, holds him and shoots lasers in the man’s face melting a hole straight through him (the man yells). An armed police officer searches a house and is attacked (we hear thuds and yelling from another room) and then see a woman lying on the floor with a very bloody head and face and she gags on blood as she dies. Something flies from off-screen into a man standing at the front door of a house and he is swept off-screen (we see a path of blood on the ground and understand that the man is dead). A woman finds a dead woman’s body hanging from the wall of a barn with a large opening at the abdomen exposing intestines and organs (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details).
 During a gym class a group of preteen children perform a trust circle where one child stands in the center and the others catch him/her when they fall back; one child is left to fall on the ground, he hits his head and when a girl is told to help him up, the boy squeezes and twists her hand crushing it (we see twisted, discolored fingers briefly as the girl screams and we hear crunching bones). A woman hugs a preteen boy and raises a shard of glass or metal over his back, the boy grabs her arm and flies through the roof of a barn and high in the sky holding the woman (we see bloody cuts on her face and head), and then drops her and we see her falling through the clouds toward the ground (we do not see the impact). A woman screams and runs through a house as it shakes and items fall around her, the house rumbles when it is struck by an energy source outside and the woman hides under a counter. A man hears a noise in his bedroom and finds a preteen boy in the closet; the man yells at him and pulls him by the arm outside to take him home when the boy shoves the man through the air and into the door of the garage (the man moans but gets up). A woman sleeps and a preteen boy moves in the shadows toward her (he is interrupted). A man is startled awake by the sound of chickens squawking in a barn and when he investigates he finds all the birds dead and ripped apart (we see carcasses and blood all around the pen). A woman hides under her bed and then comes out and climbs out of a window; we see her clinging to the window sill, she drops to the ground below and runs to a barn, limping slightly, and we see a cut on her hand.
 A man yells at his son, grabs him by the arm and shakes him and the boy shoves the man into a glass cabinet that shatters (no blood is shown). A boy’s eyes glow red and fire lasers when he becomes angry. A boy approaches an overturned lawnmower and puts his hand in the spinning blade (we see the blade mangled and his hand unharmed). A boy chews on a fork and we see the tines twisted (there’s no injury to the boy). A woman is startled when her security system beeps and announces that there is motion in the backyard; someone knocks on the door and when she opens it, a preteen boy talks to her and threatens her about whether she will talk to the sheriff the next day. A husband and his wife are startled when they hear a rumbling in the distance and hear a loud explosion in the woods nearby; when they investigate, they find a small vessel with an infant child inside it. A man with a rifle goes to his chicken coup and raises the gun thinking that he will find a wolf attacking the birds, but finds his son. A man is startled awake after dreaming that he walked through woods to find his wife holding an infant and we see blood pour from her mouth and eyes and down her abdomen as the infant’s eyes glow red and it lunges toward the man.
 A preteen boy walks in the rain to a barn and he kneels at a set of chained and locked doors, he breaks the chain and we see a glowing red light on his face as he repeats words and is lifted in the air as his eyes roll back in his head; he falls into an opening, cuts his and on a sharp piece of metal and we see blood on the metal and the cut on his hand. A red light glows in a barn and we hear rumbling and a deep voice speaking unintelligible phrases; a boy thrashes in his bed and repeats words, he climbs out his window and jumps to the ground below (no injuries) and we next see him chanting words and pulling at a locked and chained door in a barn; a woman touches him on the shoulder and he whips around and makes a sound, and then returns to normal.
 A preteen girl is frightened when a preteen boy appears in her room and approaches her; she cries and tells him that she is not supposed to talk to him and he leaves. A preteen girl is startled awake when her computer plays a romantic song when she is sleeping, she gets up to close the computer lid and it opens again and continues playing, and she is frightened when she sees a preteen boy outside her window; when her mother investigates, there is no one there.
 A boy becomes frustrated when he cannot start a lawnmower and he throws it in the air and a good distance away. A man gives a preteen boy a rifle for his birthday and the boy’s father says that he can’t have it; the boy becomes angry and demands that he have it and pounds on a table causing lights in the restaurant to flicker. A preteen boy yells at his mother and father for lying to him about where he is from and throws things around inside their house. A man tells his son that they are leaving a restaurant and the boy refuse to move, the father grabs the boy’s arm and they argue briefly before leaving. A man and woman search dark woods for their son when they wake up and find out that he’s gone from their tent; he appears behind the woman and she is startled when she turns around to see him. A woman calls and whistles for her son in the house and in a nearby barn until he pops out to startle her. A preteen boy breathes heavily and becomes agitated when a school counselor tells him that she is not seeing any remorse from him and that she will have to report to the sheriff about her findings.
 Drawings are seen in a preteen boy’s notebook of a superhero type character with glowing eyes and initials that are also seen at scenes of violence. A few scenes of destruction are seen with the end-credits, like a building collapsing like a house of cards, etc. A passenger plane flies toward a figure hovering in the sky and we then hear news reports of the plane crashing and killing all 268 passengers and others on the ground. Police walk through a crime scene and photograph evidence and seem alarmed at what they see (we see some property damage but do not see carnage).
 A woman yells at another woman in a principal’s office and demands that the other woman’s son be arrested for breaking her daughter’s hand. A preteen boy on the phone tells his mother that his father is “Gone,” meaning dead. A man says of his son, “He’s never bled before and now he’s hurting people.” A husband and his wife argue about their son in several scenes. A man tells his son that he shouldn’t go into a barn because he doesn’t want him to “break his neck.” A boy describes the differences between bees and wasps and says that bees are pollinators and wasps are predators. After a boy teases another boy in class, a girl tells him, “Don’t worry, smart guys end up ruling the planet.” A preteen boy asks his mother, “Where did I come from?” and his mother explains how they found him and the boy yells and runs away accusing her of lying to him and says, “I hate you.” We hear that a woman is missing.
 A preteen boy puts his finger in a man’s blood and draws a symbol on the ground near him. A woman finds drawings of acts of violence in her son’s notebook. A woman finds pictures (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details) of human internal organs and the female reproductive system under her preteen son’s mattress. A man finds his son’s shirt covered with blood. A man brushes his teeth and spits saliva and toothpaste into a sink.

Brightburn LANGUAGE 7

 – About 21 F-words, 3 sexual references, 14 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms (1 mild), 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (maggot, stupid, super-genius, weird, monster, pervert, creep, animal, liars, inbred psycho), exclamations (shut-up and kiss me, oh man), 3 religious profanities (GD), 7 religious exclamations (Oh My God, Jesus [F-word deleted] Christ, Good God, Jesus, Jesus Christ). | profanity glossary |

Brightburn SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man drinks a beer from a bottle at his home, several men drink beer in a bar and when one man leaves he is quizzed as to whether he is OK to drive, and a woman drinks from a glass of wine in her home.

Brightburn DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Infertility, bees vs. wasps, bullying, aliens, planet domination, parenting, trust, puberty.

Brightburn MESSAGE

 – Be careful what you wish for.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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