Every January and February, movie studios seem to hand over the keys to filmmakers willing to make genre formulas. But every so often, I sense a filmmaker who was able to convince a studio exec and then subvert the formula. "Sure, I’ll make you a movie about kids with super powers," I can imagine director Josh Trank saying. And then he delivers the moral quagmire that is "Chronicle."

Make no mistake, this is more ethical drama than supernatural thriller. Yes, the plot kicks into motion when a trio of high school friends make a surreal, paranormal discovery. But it’s when they have to start grappling with the consequences of their super powers that the story really takes off.

Without divulging the key twists to the story, the three boys of "Chronicle" learn that they can manipulate matter. At first, they roam town pranking people - visiting the toy store, where they make a teddy bear float in midair and spook a little girl, and then moving cars around a parking lot, giggling at the confused car owners. They are able to do all this without the sense of touch; using their minds, they can control the physical world.

And then, as so often happens, the immature take it too far. The more these three boys master their powers, the more they start using their skills in selfish ways. Laws are broken. People get hurt. And suddenly the three friends must grapple with new questions: When a person possesses absolute power, what happens when they cross the line? And if you possess the same powers, what obligations are you under to monitor and rein in your cohorts?

In a different version of "Chronicle," things would devolve into a supernatural spectacle. The focus would be on the special effects, and not the seriously conflicted psyches. But this film is far more interesting than a timid summer blockbuster, savvy in the way it uses cinematic tricks and mystical characters to dust off rather traditional coming-of-age anxieties.

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