Spoilers have little work to do here.

I know this film went back and forth and ended up being released in middle of this year without any particular changes. I heard about it, I was curious but I tried to keep my expectations low. I don’t know if this is going to fill anybody’s expectations because it’s just mostly average. There is something different does try to do by mixing genres and to a sense, it has its moments but it doesn’t really feel like it ever fully commits to the idea.

(Credit: Marvel Entertainment)

The New Mutants (2020) was directed by Josh Boone, who wrote it with Knate Lee. We follow the sad fate of Dani Moonstar (Blu Hunt) as she loses her family and finds herself in an institution run by Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga). Inside with her are Rahne (Maisie Williams), Ilyana (Anya Taylor-Joy), Sam (Charlie Heaton) and Roberto (Henry Zaga). They’ve all got some sort of gift that has branded them as outcasts. Dani is still discovering hers.

To its credit, the movie does try to set a horror environment in which unexpected phenomena can and will happen. To do this, I would’ve preferred if they’ve kept the actual connection to the MCU vague. Instead, the whole concept of mutants and their powers is brought up immediately, as well as the existence of the X-Men. A little mystery would’ve helped, but I guess the filmmakers and/or producers didn’t want to leave things to chance by not making that obvious from the start.

What we get is a horror/superhero film hybrid that doesn’t particular excel at either genre. Setting genre aside, I had a big issue with the way it’s edited. The scene transitions are a bit jarring, leaving things out and breaking up the storytelling. Most of the plot is predictable, but at least some of the characters are interesting. I couldn’t accept that the whole facility is run by just Dr. Reyes. Orderlies or some sort of security would have grounded the film a lot more than voice-operated self-locking doors.

Lightly recommended for a slow night when you’re low on other choices. It’s just average and that gets old and dull fast. It does bring the idea of adding horror elements to the story but seems to be to shy to become a full horror film. The editing really made this film feel like it was missing scenes, even though it takes forever to get to a predictable ending. The result is a film that might be just a sliver above ok at its best and boring at its worst. It’s something to watch in this age of lockdowns, but hardly something memorable.

That will do for now.