Honestly, The New Mutants proved to be an entertaining watch. I understand this movie has suffered a great deal of drama and has, consequently, been lampooned in the court of public opinion, but it actually has a lot going for it.

First of all, The New Mutants is packed with young star power. Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones, Anya Joy-Taylor from The Queen’s Gambit, and Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things all have featured roles.

Secondly, it’s a relatively small film. The cast is limited, the setting is isolated, and the story is tightly focused on basically six people.

Finally, you don’t need to know much of anything to watch The New Mutants. It’s pretty much a standalone film with only passing references to the X-Men universe in which it presumably belongs. I appreciated that it wasn’t your typical superhero fare in that it felt far more akin to a horror movie than anything. Yes, these are characters based on those from the comic books, and they have mutant abilities, but none of them yearn to put on tights or go save the world.

This is not to say that The New Mutants is perfect. The story is a little confusing, the dialogue is–at times–cliched. But, the special effects are pretty fun, especially when Heaton and Joy-Taylor’s characters power up.

At a touch over ninety minutes, The New Mutants is a very easy watch. I suspect we will see much more in the decades to come from these young stars, so this will be a provocative film to look back upon.