October Horror Challenge 2022 #39: "Firestarter (2022)"

I loved the original Firestarter adaptation, even though it changed a few things to simplify them. Drew Barrymore was perfect as Charlie, and I hated the bad guys for creating a monster in a little girl then trying to kill it like it wasn't a human being. my friend and I got into an argument once because he thought the government was right in trying to kill Charlie because she might go to sleep or get sick and use her power accidentally, so she needed to be killed to be controlled before it was too late. That pissed me off. the government made a little girl into a monster and now they just want to erase her like she never existed? Bullshit. This book clearly elicits strong feelings, though, so I was eager to watch this new adaptation and see what it has to offer.

In this movie, a young girl tries to understand how she gained the power to set things on fire with her mind. The little girl, named Charlie, has a mom and dad who have powers to do things with their minds, so it runs in the family. Charlie doesn't fit in very well at school because the other kids think she's weird, but her mom wants her to go to school so she can have a normal life. But Charlie is far from normal, and her power is something that could be very dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. Her dad's solution to the problem is for Charlie to keep her power hidden, but soon that might not be possible. Can Charlie learn to control her power or will it destroy her and everyone she loves?

This movie takes a different track than the original and the book. Charlie is more of a badass and she doesn't take any shit from the government agents sent to track her like an animal. Her mom and dad don't agree on what to do about her power. Dad wants her to hide it and not use it, which might be because his power destroys him when he uses it. Her mom wants to train her how to use her power so she can control it instead of it controlling her. I can understand both points of view, though I agree more with the mom's plan because eventually she's going to need to know how to use her power and she can't run forever.

There's not much gore here, but when it comes, it's used very well to depict Charlie's burn victims. The climactic scene is pretty awesome too, with Charlie showing what her powers can really do. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending, but it leaves things wide open for a sequel if the filmmakers ever choose to make one. Overall this movie is pretty good and worth checking out.