Review of Powder (2010) by Martin D — 02 Mar 2010

Harassed by classmates who won't accept his shocking appearance, a shy young man known as "Powder" struggles to fit in. But the cruel taunts stop when Powder displays a mysterious power that allows him to do incredible things. This phenomenon changes the lives of all those around him in ways they never could have imagined.A young boy is discovered living in the basement of a house where an old woman has died. The boy, Jeremy Reed (Sean Patrick Flanery), has the name "Powder" because of his luminous white skin. It turns out that Powder has spent his whole life never leaving the house. The basement is fill wall to wall with books that he has not only read, but memorized every word. This is only the first hint at his incredible powers.

Sheriff Barnum (Lance Henriksen) takes Powder to the local boys home until it can be determined if he might have other kin or what is to become of him. Powder is very unlike the other kids and becomes the object of their ridicule. But soon strange events begin to occur. It turns out that Powder can attract objects and bend them with his thoughts. He is able to conduct electrical energy around him. These actions makes other begin to fear him.

Deputy Harley Duncan (Brandon Smith) is a macho man and expert deer hunter and he takes the boys on a deer hunt. Duncan never misses and sure enough he shoots a deer, but Powder grabs his hand and then touches the dying deer. Duncan can feel "the pain" of the deer dying. He is completely sickened by the event and gives away all his guns and will never hunt again.

The one person who tries to help Powder is Jessie (Mary Steenburgen) and she arranges for him to take some aptitude and intelligence tests. After the tests, Powder comes into the room with the officials and they are all skeptical of him. He simply says to them that he knows they don't believe he could score so well without cheating. As he begins to leave the room, all the lights in the room explode.