What actually happens
A baby with no return policy
A spaceship comes down in a forest outside the town of Brightburn, Kansas. Tori and Kyle Breyer, who have been unable to have children, see it from their house, go to the crash site and find a baby in the ship. They adopt him and name him Brandon. On his twelfth birthday, Brandon finds out that he is super-strong and can fly. At middle school he is a top student, a loner and a frequent target of bullies. He becomes fixated on a classmate, Caitlyn, and scares her by sneaking into her bedroom at night. In a gym class trust exercise, Caitlyn lets him fall and calls him a pervert, and Brandon crushes her hand. Caitlyn's mother Erika accosts him and demands he be arrested, and the school suspends him.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
The diner has a very bad lunch hour
At night, the spaceship starts broadcasting a strange language that draws Brandon to the barn. Tori follows and watches him float in the air, chanting the ship's message. He drops, cuts his hand on the ship, and Tori tells him where he really came from. Brandon says he hates his adoptive parents and storms out. He decodes the message, which says "Take the world," and his evil side takes over. This is the scene people dread, and it comes right after that: Brandon goes after Erika at a diner, uses his powers to torment her and then kills her. The police later find a symbol on every diner window, visible only when the sheriff breathes on the glass, and it matches the one Brandon draws in his notebook.
A family hunting trip with poor planning
Brandon goes to his aunt's house to persuade her not to tell anyone about the incident at school. She refuses, and he stalks her around the house until his uncle Noah catches him. When Noah says he will tell Brandon's father, Brandon toys with him, then kills him by lifting Noah's truck with his mind and dropping it as Noah tries to escape. Brandon draws his symbol in Noah's blood on the pavement. The police think Noah's death was an accident. Kyle finds a bloodstained shirt of Brandon's and suspects him, though Tori refuses to believe it. Kyle takes Brandon on a hunting trip and shoots him, but the bullet glances off Brandon's head. Brandon kills Kyle with heat vision.
Tori brings a piece of the ship to a superpower fight
The sheriff visits Tori with the symbol that was left where Erika and Noah died. Tori finds Brandon's notebook, which has drawings of the murders in it and the words "Take the world." She phones Kyle, and Brandon answers and tells her he is coming for her. He returns and starts wrecking the house, and he kills the police officers Tori called before more can arrive. Tori remembers that the ship's hull can hurt him and runs to the barn, where she finds Erika's eviscerated body near the ship. Brandon follows her in. She tries to appeal to his good side, and while he is distracted she goes at him with a piece of the ship, but he sees it coming and catches her arm. Furious and hurt, he carries her up to the stratosphere and lets go.
The ending, explained
After Tori falls, Brandon spots an airplane heading toward him. By the next morning the plane has crashed into the Breyers' farmhouse, which destroys the evidence of the previous night's murders, and rescue workers are tending to Brandon. His symbol is painted on a piece of the wreckage. Tori, Kyle and Noah are dead, along with Erika and the police officers. In the credits, news reports show Brandon at the scenes of various disasters, while an online conspiracy theorist points out that other superpowered beings exist and urges everyone to act before it is too late.
The post-credits ruling
There is footage during the credits: news reports show Brandon at disaster sites while an online conspiracy theorist warns about other superpowered beings. Nobody has confirmed a separate scene after them.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: no dog, but the chickens are not so lucky.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Brightburn scary?
Yes. Brightburn is a 6 out of 10 with medium dread, a superhero origin story told as a slasher with frequent jump scares and a handful of very gory scenes.
How does Brightburn end?
Brandon kills his father Kyle and his uncle Noah, then drops his mother Tori from the stratosphere. A plane crashes into the farmhouse, and the credits imply that other beings like him exist.
Does the dog die in Brightburn?
There is no dog in Brightburn. The chickens on the Breyer farm are killed off-screen, and you hear it happen and see the bloody aftermath.
Is there a post-credits scene in Brightburn?
Not confirmed. During the credits of Brightburn, news reports show Brandon at disaster sites while a conspiracy theorist warns about other superpowered beings, but nobody has confirmed a separate scene after them.
What is the symbol in Brightburn?
It is the mark Brandon draws in his notebook and leaves at the scenes of his murders. In Brightburn it appears on the diner windows after Erika's death and in Noah's blood on the pavement, and the police connect the scenes through it.
