The New Mutants, although loosely tied to the dozen X-Men and X-Men-related movies that preceded it, is its own feature, a film that is connected to the Marvel franchise by the most tenuous of threads.

And, while it might have launched a new subset of youth-oriented mutant films, I doubt we'll see anything more from this particular branch.

The New Mutants suffers from a lack of awareness of what it's meant to be. Is it a superhero movie? A romantic drama? Is it a teen slasher flick, or a stylish suspenseful horror? It tries to be all of them at once, and it ends up doing none of them well.

You might blame Josh Boone, the film's director and co-writer, or you might blame studio mishandling, as the film was begun by Fox but was acquired by Disney before its (much delayed) release. You might blame an overall lack of vision, too -- there was apparently a lot of disagreement over reshoots and just how "adult" to make the movie.

I'm not going to blame the cast, however, who seemingly did the best they could with a watery, ill-defined script and aimless direction. The film stars Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane), Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin (Magik), Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie (Cannonball), Blu Hunt as Dani Moonstar (Mirage), Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa (Sunspot) and Alice Braga as Dr. Cecilia Reyes, their doctor/caretaker/warden.

They are apparently alone -- five young and untrained mutants with a lone adult/authority figure who strives to contain them while acting on a hidden (but quite obviously nefarious) agenda. I found myself wondering who cooks the meals, mows the lawns and cleans the restrooms, and it's not a good sign for your mind to wander onto such mundane turf when it's supposed to be focused on the plot.

But the movie just meanders through various plot points that suggest potential story and character developments that fizzle on arrival. Someone had some very good ideas here, but they didn't come to life.

I remember seeing a trailer for this movie that made it look like a seriously creepy superhero horror film, and I wish they'd made that movie. Instead, we got something that doesn't know what it is, that frittered away its potential and almost certainly assured an end to any potential for a sequel.