Burning Bright (film)

Burning Bright is a 2010 horror-thriller directed by Carlos Brooks and starring Briana Evigan, Garret Dillahunt, Meat Loaf, and Charlie Tahan. The film is distributed by Lionsgate.

The film opens with a man driving a circus trailer down a silent road. He meets up with another man, John Gaveneau (Garret Dillahunt), and it is revealed that he is attempting to purchase a Bengal tiger for the creation of a "Safari Ranch". Initially not believing the tiger looks dangerous or exciting enough, the seller tells him a gruesome story and claims that the tiger is evil. Meanwhile, John's stepdaughter, Kelly (Briana Evigan) is with her autistic brother, Tom (Charlie Tahan), whom she has taken to a special hospital in order for him to get the care he needs while she is at college. However, Kelly's payment to the hospital is rejected; upon calling her bank, she is informed that John withdrew all the money and closed the account.

After bringing the tiger home, John instructs his workers to board up the house in preparation for and approaching hurricane. As the windows are being secured, Kelly confronts John and begs him to give her the remainder of the money; he explains that he spent it all on the tiger. Kelly is angry at him, telling him that her mother (who committed suicide by taking an overdose of pills) wanted the money to go to Tom and Kelly. However, there was no official will, so John took the funds for himself. Upset, Kelly calls her college professor and asked to defer her start at college until the second semester, citing family issues; however, she is on a scholarship and has already deferred twice, and her professor tells her that if she does not start college that semester, he will give the scholarship money to someone else.

After sending Tom to bed, she undresses and goes to bed as well, where she dreams of suffocating Tom so she wouldn't have to take care of him anymore. While she sleeps, the front door is opened, and an unknown person releases the tiger into the house. Waking, Kelly goes downstairs to the kitchen for a drink, finding a note from John claiming that he has gone to the store. Returning upstairs, she hears sounds in the house, and as she is investigating, she sees the tiger cross the foyer beneath her.