“It’s okay, Charlie.”

From Firestarter.

After unknowingly taking part in a series of terrible science experiments in college, Andy (Zac Efron) and Vicky (Sydney Lemmon) were lucky to escape from the DSI scientists with their lives and enhanced psychic abilities. However, the couple has been on the run ever since their daughter, Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) was born with the ability to create fire with her mind. While Vicky has abandoned using her abilities for years, Andy has used his ability to mentally push people towards his will to cover the family’s off the grid living… a choice that has left him mentally struggling more with each push. An incident at school quickly spirals out of control for Charlie and her parents, creating even more division for Andy and Vicky over letting the young girl use her powers in an effort to control them. When Captain Hollister (Gloria Reuben) is appointed as the new head of DSI—the program responsible for painfully awakening Andy and Vicky’s abilities—she is eager to correct the mistakes of her predecessors and help the organization function to its highest ability, so she begins searching in earnest for Charlie and her parents. Unable to locate the family through normal methods, Hollister reaches out to another former DSI test subject, Rainbird (Michael Greyeyes), for help in bringing Charlie in for research. Using his abilities, Rainbird is soon able to locate Charlie and an injured Vicky which forces Andy to flee with Charlie before she is captured. Running with no resources, Andy and Charlie are able to get some help from the kind Irv (John Beasley) and Essi (Sheila Boyd), but Rainbird and DSI’s relentless pursuit will force Charlie to use her powerful, but unpredictable abilities to take the fight to DSI headquarters for a fight beyond her wildest nightmares.

This movie is desperate to be a horror movie, but falls a bit in the effort to create an impactful origin story. While there are some horrific moments built throughout the story, it unfortunately doesn’t rise far above an exciting thriller. That being said, Firestarter does offer some chilling special effects, an engaging cast, and a solid foundation for a continuation of the story, should a sequel be made.

| Rated: R | Running Time: 94 minutes |Genre: thriller/horror/sci-fi|

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 4* of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 6 of 10

|PLAYING IN THEATERS|