In order to attract attention as a film with a superhero theme in the midst of all the cinematic superhero universes and to find its audience, it usually needs an unusual idea or at least a somewhat provocative attitude towards the established hero definition. Brightburn, which was in fact produced by Guardians of the Galaxy maker James Gunn, falls more into the latter category and obviously represents the antithesis to Superman's beginnings with his human "parents". Because Brandon, the now 12-year-old alien boy who landed on Earth as a baby by spacecraft and lived an unsuspicious life until now, suddenly develops a destructive character that doesn't stop at family members and certainly not at strangers. The whole thing has a threatening undertone and is solidly scripted, but at times also reminds one a little too much of other films with "bad children", such as The Omen.

In mostly all markets, the horror film was released uncut. Although it has its violent moments, they are used in a well-dosed way and don't overshadow the story. In England, the British certification board BBFC was stricter with Brightburn and only gave its BBFC 18 approval to the uncut version. For Sony Pictures, this rating was too high for the release in English cinemas, which is why the BBFC recommended censorship for the BBFC 15 rating. This version was later released there on DVD and Blu-ray, while the uncut BBFC 18 version was released exclusively on 4K UHD Blu-ray. In England, film fans have been annoyed by this release tactic on several occasions, including The Equalizer 2 and John Wick 2.

The censored BBFC 15 DVD was compared to the uncut, German FSK 16 Blu-ray (both from Sony Pictures).

2 cuts, one scene with alternative footage = 10 seconds

0:39:33: A close-up is missing, in which one sees a glass splinter stuck in Brenda's eye. Blood is leaking from the pupil.
2.28 sec.

0:39:46: Brenda pulls the splinter out of the pupil for a longer time.
7.72 sec.

Alternative material
Uncle Noah's lower jaw folds away to the side, so that he presses it back against his face with his hand. But there is no time difference, because the BBFC 15 version frame freezes a view of the destroyed window instead and this takes as long as the censored moment with the jaw.
No time difference

BBFC 15	FSK 16