Customer Reviews

The Broken

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I'll open with a warning: as fond as I am of "The Broken," I suspect few others will share my enthusiasm. Lots will like it, a few will hate it (particularly the ending), but it is so tailored towards my not always conventional horror movie ideals that few will admire it the way I do. Also, my nonexistent expectations probably colored my response a bit. (I've watched it twice now and enjoyed it no less the second time, but the initial impression can last even in later viewings.) So consider this a caveat for my readers, if any.

"The Broken" is perhaps the most praised entry in the years After Dark Film Festival set (faint praise, no doubt), and is a brief, extremely stylish and moody exercise in low-key horror. Make no mistake, those looking for visceral horror will be met with lengthy, near silent scenes where the disturbed protagonists wanders about the empty apartment, trying to understand her peculiar situation. (The moments of overt horror are effective, but rare, though perhaps too melodramatic for some tastes.) The tactics are drawn straight from the moody horror handbook: blue filter, rain, strangely empty streets, slow, creeping camera movements, rumbling music, ominously symbolic imagery (broken glass) etc. That said, the execution is remarkably adroit, and director Ellis maintains are air of uncertainty all throughout the film. (The performances are also solid, though not much is expected of them.) The film plays as something of a cross between Invasion of the Body Snatchers (doppelgangers, paranoia issues) and The Ring (the visuals, emphasis on mood), and manages to combine the two approaches so as to avoid redundancy. Many will still accuse it of being a rip-off of something or other, but that's usually a lazy, non-analytic criticism. Most genre pics just recycle the tropes--that's what they're supposed to do, for the most part.

The story is simple: one night a grown family living in London meet for a pleasant birthday dinner for the father, though one interrupted by the ominous shattering of a large mirror sitting opposite the dinner table. The daughter Gina (Lena Headey) soon finds her life has gone awry, as she, the next day, spots a mysterious, identical woman driving along the road. Gina follows her to an apartment containing apparent emblems from her life (a photo of her (?) and her father (?)) then drives off distraught, only to crash her jeep and land in the hospital. She cannot remember the details of her crash, though she is upset by the memory of her double, and comes to believe that the now strangely cold and distant Stephan is not her boyfriend. Even worse, the plague of doubles appears to spread throughout the city, as observed by other family members.

The story is, again, minimal, though it uses themes I particularly like, and I enjoy how it refuses to explain or contextualize itself excessively. It's like the best horror short stories, where we just slip through the real world and into an eerie variant where terrors lurk. (A mirror shatters, and suddenly nothing is the same anymore.) This is perhaps my favorite sort of horror, and no film I've seen in recent memory evokes it better than "The Broken." Some, however, will view it as all mood and no payoff, and that's a position I can respect, if not agree with. (Its being a scant 83 minutes, minus the credits, helps on this front.)

It is, however, impossible to fully consider "The Broken" w/o mentioning the ending. In short, I think it works, but I need to go into more detail, particularly to explain to those who've seen the film and didn't like it why I did appreciate it. Those who do not want the ending revealed should skip this paragraph. Last chance to move on . . . Okay, now that we've gotten rid of the others, here goes: It is finally revealed that who we believe is Gina through most of the pic is, in fact, her doppelganger. When Gina entered the apartment (her own apartment) the double kills her and drives off. She crashes, though, and loses her recent memories, along with having her personality temporarily altered by the bruising. This is a somewhat contrived conclusion, but I love one aspect: it refuses to sellout the premise of the movie. In films like these, it always turns out that the protagonist was delusional in some way, thus negating the supernatural. Ellis plays up this angle, leads us down the path and then inverts it: the main character is delusional, but in a way that reinforces the supernatural reality of the film, rather than subverting it. Thus, though a bit contrived, it works beautifully on a kind of metafictional level. Perhaps more to the point, the endings in these films are rarely inspired; the films should be about the mood generated by the mystery, not the solution. Those who are angered by it should remember this, and reflect on how hackneyed and obvious the revelatory endings to all the other mysterious horror pics they've seen were.

Anyway, this was a very pleasant surprise. Even those who disagree on the effectiveness of the ending should be able to appreciate the moody, paranoid ambience of the rest, provided they admire that kind of thing. Check it out.

Grade: A-

Before I watched THE BROKEN, I assumed it was going to be another one of those lame and pointless PG-13 teenage "Horror" stinkers filling the theaters these days. I'm talking about such lame and uninspired hack Horror movies like SKELETON KEY, THE PULSE (the "american interpretation" of the movie, for lack of a better phrase) WHITE NOISE (how the mighty have fallen Michael Keaton), BUTTERFLY EFFECT (can you believe there are three of those movies?) and other teeny bopper, luke warm affairs that pass for "scary" these days.

Boy, was I ever surprised that THE BROKEN was neither PG-13 or lame! It's a good 'ol fashioned mature R rated Horror thriller, just like they used to make in the good 'ol days! (God bless R rated Horror violence and an actual mature and thoughtful plot!) This movie isn't afraid of telling the story at it's own pace, keeping things dark (spooky) and just letting the over all feeling of the movie, creep the viewer out!

THE BROKEN is basically about this woman who happens to see her double driving down the street (in a car much like her own) one day. This of course leads to a series of interesting events, with the main character eventually running into herself. It would seem that a lot of people's doubles have been smashing their way through mirrors and killing their real sides.

I guess the only question to beg is, at that point, which side is the "real" side? From a psychological stand point (and as a reviewer), these questions come up during the movie no matter what. It's just commen sense and reasonable questions. Just because we've gotten to know her (the main character) and understand her situation, doesn't mean her otherside is the "bad" side.

Except for in this case, it does! Mainly because these doubles kill you, soon as they exit the mirror, dump your body and then take over your life! It's a strange plot, not to mention the idea of dopplegangers is a rather odd one within itself.

The movie has a very Ridley Scott, David Lynch feel. Maybe a little Eli Roth too, minus the humor. I kept getting creeped out and it reminded me of such films as THE EXORCIST III and A TALE OF TWO SISTERS. Everything has a very dark and quiet feeling to it. Each scene passes the other with such a spooky and eerie vibe that you (the viewer) start to look around nervously, like your own double will be standing there in the corner of your room! Talk about seeing yourself for who you really are! HA! Sorry for the bad joke.

Anyways, the ending of the movie isn't really shocking or revolutionary. The over all film is rather straight forward and it doesn't try to pull any unexpected punches, which is a good thing in this case. Everything seems to flesh out nicely. The point of the movie is to just creep you out and in that respect, it works.

Normally I don't comment on the actual quality of the DVD's audio but in this case, I feel the need to do so. For some strange reason, the audio on the DVD is all messed up! It's really quiet during some moments and then in others, crushingly loud! What gives!?! Whoever did the mixing on this movie needs to have their head checked! Hopefully not all the third series AFTER DARK HORRORFEST movies are mixed this way. Talk about annoying!

On the movie itself, well done! Gore wise, nothing to really see here fellow Gore Hounds. One scene has a woman's double sneaking up on her in the shower, PSYCHO style, and shoving her entire arm into her mouth! All the way down her throat! Bloody but not really gory. This one is more about the strange scenes, creepy doubles and spooky atmosphere.

Give the movie a shot. Don't watch it alone and don't watch it at night!

Very creepy indeed!

Watching "The Broken" is like playing an endless game of Clue without ever finding out who killed Mr. Boddy. It's a mystery without a solution, a tense psychological drama that reveals nothing other than how tense and psychological it is. It plays mind games only with itself, leaving the audience to watch from the sidelines in a bored, confused stupor. The idea behind it is intriguing, and for a time, it successfully builds itself up. The thing is, the act of building is pointless if there's no height requirement. At a certain point, it becomes painfully clear that the story will only keep building without ever reaching anything. I do give it credit for creating the right atmosphere; the characters inhabit a moody, subdued world where nothing seems safe, not even a person's own home. But atmosphere can only go so far, even in a horror film. It also needs an understandable story with an ending that doesn't leave us with more questions than answers.

It doesn't help that "The Broken" is unbearably slow, and this is despite the relatively short running time of eighty-eight minutes. Specific shots are dragged out so long that I eventually stopped waiting for something shocking to happen. It works only the first few times, at which point I kept in mind that suspense is most effective when things go slowly. After those few times pass, however, the film comes dangerously close to being boring, moments of horror and all. This is probably because it does a fine job showing us what happens, but it does a terrible job explaining why or how it's happening. By the end of the film, I was unable to make heads or tails of what I had just seen. What a shame, especially since it opens on such a promising note.

The film begins by quoting the final lines of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "William Wilson": "You have conquered, and I yield. Yet, henceforward art thou also dead--dead to the World, to Heaven and to Hope! In me didst thou exist--and, in my death, see by this image, which is thine own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself." The story, you see, explores the theme of the doppelganger, or the double, where the self is divided amongst two separate yet identical bodies. In Poe's story, another William Wilson--who looks similar and shares the same birthday--continuously haunts the protagonist to the point of insanity. The same theme exists in "The Broken," which tells the story of Gina McVey (Lena Headey), a British radiologist who, after seeing a clone of herself, gets into a serious car accident. As she recovers, she begins to fear that things aren't quite right, that her French boyfriend, Stephan (Melvil Poupaud), isn't the person he once was.

From here, the story takes a long-winded journey through strange territory, where mirrors constantly shatter and fragmented bits of memory keep flashing on the screen. Gina keeps trying to make sense of the crash, and apparently, so is writer/director Sean Ellis, who constantly shows it in slow-motion replays from various angles. He also relies greatly on composer Guy Farley, whose score is almost entirely made up of dissonant crescendos. It creates a mood, but what good is mood without context? Scary things keep happening, yet there's no explanation for any of it, which tells me one of two things: Either this movie is an experimental art piece that intentionally challenges rational thought, or Ellis was so taken by the psychological themes that he neglected to focus on an actual plot. It's difficult to believe that it's the former, given the fact that Gina is not the only character with a doppelganger problem. Her American father (Richard Jenkins), her brother (Asier Newman), and her brother's wife (Michelle Duncan) are all affected in some way, probably because of a scene early in the film--when the entire family eats dinner at the father's house, a large mirror in the dining room suddenly falls over and shatters.

For the sake of argument, let us say that "The Broken" is intended to challenge rational thought. Are we to assume, then, that the plot itself is irrelevant, that we're only supposed to follow the psychological implications? If that's the case, then there's no better example of it than a plot twist near the end of the film, which, if you choose to interpret it metaphorically, effectively raises questions about which side of a mirror represents the reflection.

But again, the fact that more than one character has a doppelganger makes the idea difficult to accept. How could such a broad psychological concept apply to so many people? Maybe this film would have worked had it focused entirely on Gina, because at least then the mystery would be much less open to interpretation. There would be some sense that the story is actually reaching for something. When you have multiple characters with evil doubles of themselves, the symbolic ideas are bound to get hopelessly confused with one another. Such is the problem with "The Broken," a film that puts too many characters into a needlessly enigmatic story. I have no doubt that Ellis is trying to get at something, but for the life of me, I haven't a clue what it is. The only thing I got out of it, aside from the atmosphere, was a desire to reread the works of Edgar Allen Poe. So maybe seeing this film wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Are you the type of viewer who is easily put off by plot holes and ambiguity in a horror film? If so, you might find THE BROKEN more frustrating than enjoyable. however, it has so much going for it. Some truly creepy scenes, some incredibly well-done nail-biting suspense sequences, exquisite yet not overly-showy cinematography, highly effective use of locations, nerve-wracking subversion of the everyday into the macabre, and solid if not outstanding performances. I found myself somewhat frustrated with the lack of at least a little explaantion of what was going on, especially towards the end. THE SIXTH SENSE this is not, folks. Resolutions are far from neat. Also, the paranoia could have been mined and focused further. However, for something unusual which still pays off in the gore-n-violence department, this is definately worth a look. At times, it even comes close to echoing the "no one believes her" chills of the original STEPFORD WIVES, ROSEMARY'S BABY and the 70'S version of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. (though, having said that, I think there were one or two obvious swipes/homages too many.

My reaction to the After Dark series has been typical of most viewers posting here: a few intriguing installments and a number of ho-hum offerings. My approach to horror leans towards the cerebral and The Broken, along with The Deaths of Ian Stone, have been the most satisfying for my eyes and taste. Viewers who want to snuggle up to a chain saw or feast with cannibals won't be attracted to this one at all.

Having said this, here's what we have. A cozy family living in London begins to experience a series of unfortunate events characterized by mirrors breaking and the appearance (around town) of chilly, aloof replicas of themselves. It's Lena Headey's 'other half' that is the focus of the movie. Shot in steely bluish tones on overcast days, the film is an atmospheric ride highlighting the interaction of the good and evil twins. There are few moments of gore, but the directors set up some good surprises along the way. As a viewer, you'll be waiting for the next shoe to drop, and it you're willing to be patient, The Broken has its rewards.

The downside is a feeling of incompleteness. The film does come to a reasonable conclusion in the form of a watershed in the characters' interactions, but it's one of those moments that has you anticipating the "to be continued....' frame. There's obviously more for a good story .... who knows, perhaps a followup is planned. We might learn why this family was targeted for these visitations, and whether every human has an unpleasant companion: if so, what triggers a visit from the creepy side of the mirror?

A major disappointment is the lack of any extras relevant to the film. The cast and directors have talent and I would have liked to see more in the form of a 'making of' or interviews. Had there been some more beef in this department, I might have pushed this up to 4 stars.

This is a rewarding and unusual entry into the After Dark repetoire, and I promise that a few who watch it will avoid mirrors for a while.

Gina (Lena Headly) is a London radiologist with a close-knit family, loving boyfriend and a rewarding career. Yet right from the opening credits things seem subtly off-kilter. Gloom abounds. Creepy people pop up on the Underground and despite the closeness of relationships there is a sense of isolation and lonliness in the lead characters, especially Gina's father (Richard Jenkins) who, though obviously adored by his children, lives alone in a scary dark house. While during a dinner for his birthday a large mirror inexplicibly shatters, setting in motion a sequence of bizarre events and a moody pace that doesn't allow a person to really relax.

I know other reviewers will say this movie is slow. It is, but that slowness in at times unbearably tense. It feels like it's all happening in real time and you're just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Soon after the birthday dinner Gina begins to see a woman who looks just like her out of the corner of her eye. After a horrifying head-on collison and recovery her life really starts to get strange. Her once loving boyfriend is distant and mechanical. She only remembers fragments of the accident and the events leading up to it. She becomes convinced that her boyfriend has been replaced by a doppleganger (a nod to another wonderful horror film, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and is terrifyed that her own "twin" is trying to kill her. Meanwhile, her brother, father and sister-in-law all seem to be affected the same way. And it isn't confined to the family: One of her brother's neighbors confides that his wife "isn't his wife anymore."

The ending is a bit unsatisfying, but I disagree that the plot is unsubstantial. In fact it's one of the best thought out films the Horrorfest has produced. An added treat is that it barely relies on violence and gore at all (although there is a doozy of a scene about half-way through.) Most of the characters spend time looking in mirrors so we see more of the actors' reflections rather than the actors themselves. And when those mirrors shatter we know awful things are crawling out from behind them. But what are they? Are they dimensional creatures looking for a way in? Spirits of the dead? Even worse, are they us, our darker halves? Is it possible that when we stare out our own reflections that something is staring back?

All I know is I spent two days avoiding mirrors. And I'll never look into one quite the same way again.

THE BROKEN is a film that is long on mood and atmosphere but short on logic and climax. The plot is a combination of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and almost any movie by Hitchcock. The problem is that these latter works used mood and a slow buildup of suspense to move toward a logical end. Lena Headey is Gena, a radiologist who spends much of her time looking at the shattered bones in X-rays. Shattering seems to take on a life as a motife. For no apparent reason mirrors shatter numerous times. Shards of glass are ubiquitous. Director Sean Ellis may be trying to imply that THE BROKEN is not aiming to be a traditional film with a straight line plot that moves toward an understandable climax. Perhaps he means it to be a work of metaphysics that is trying to say something about the world in which we live. If that is so, then he has failed miserably. I have no idea what is the metaphysical or allegorical underpinning. What I do know is that Ellis keeps teasing the viewer with a non-stop series of scenes that individually are arresting but collectively go nowhere.

One day, Gina sees a woman drive a car and who looks just like her. A coincidence? The world is full of doppelgangers, Gina follows her to this double's apartment only to find a picture of herself with her father. She does not recognize the picture. In a daze, she drives her car and has a head on collision with another vehicle. When she wakes up in the hospital, she has little memory of the accident. It is at this point that director Ellis keeps inserting multi-faceted roadblocks that seem to lead toward a plot that would rationalize the existence of a duplicate Gina. But, Ellis complicates matters by involving other doubles as well. Her boyfriend, her father, and her sister are all murdered to be replaced by lookalikes. Why we do not know. Her father is an ambassasor in London, Gina herself is a doctor, her boyfriend is an architect, her sister is a housewife, but all are otherwise unremarkable. No one is a mad scientist nor has a job in cloning or genetics. There is simply no logic to any of this. Finally, (SPOILER)we learn that the Gina in the accident is the double--she has eliminated the original only to lose her memory. The ending is a total copout. What I took away from THE BROKEN is that when a film promises some logic to accomodate a series of intriguing premises but fails to deliver a controlling logic, then what gets broken is an implied covenant between director and viewer to respect the latter's intelligence as the former titillates that viewer with some really gothic subtexts.

In The Broken Gina McVey's (Lena Headey) life is turned upside down one day as she is walking down a busy London street and sees herself drive by in an SUV. Was she imagining it? Was it just a look-alike? Her curiosity gets the better of her as she follows the SUV to a nearby apartment complex. Trailing the woman, she is stunned to see a framed picture of her and her father inside the mystery woman's apartment. She flees, not paying attention to her surroundings and ends up crashing her car. When Gina tells people what she's seen, her doctors think she is suffering the effects of a head injury and refer her to a psychiatrist.

Gina desperately attempts to piece together her fragmented memory of the events leading up to the crash. Broken mirrors in her home, and that of her family portend something much more sinister than merely the stress of an accident. Gina finds that her boyfriend Stephan seems changed. He's cold and distant towards her and a drip from the bathroom ceiling causes Gina to search the attic where she makes a horrifying discovery.

The Broken straddles the fence between psychological and supernatural horror. Writer/Director Shawn Ellis wants to perhaps use the broken mirrors as a mere metaphor symbolizing the shattered relationships of this family. This was all set-up by an uncomfortable surprise birthday party for Gina's father, John, in which the family's sentiments seemed strained. The party was, in fact, drawn to an abrupt close by a mirror that crashed to the floor.

Ellis drags out the pretense far longer than he should have, however before revealing The Broken's true plot twist. It is derivative of 2008's Mirrors with Keifer Sutherland, and in some respects does a better job than that bigger budgeted film. Unfortunately what Ellis doesn't give us is any sense of payoff. We finally know what's going on but we don't know why. Mirrors gave viewers a reason and a motivation for its supernatural threat, but Ellis doesn't want to make the leap here. He seems to think it's witty to leave us guessing but I suspect he simply wasn't sure which direction he wanted to go with the plot. In the end it's like waiting in a long line for a roller coaster which has no thrills. It's kind of a shame because had he stuck to either the psychological or supernatural completely It would have been a better film. The attempt to go for both, especially in such a short film (92 minutes) leaves both elements wanting.

On the plus side, the cast in The Broken is the best of any of this year's After Dark Horrorfest films. We have Lena Headey from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Richard Jenkins who was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor this year, and veteran French actor Melvil Poupaud. In fact the quality of the cast is surprising considering the generally low-budgets of the Horrorfest films.

Another positive is the score by Guy Farley which sets a brooding and suspenseful tone and peaks at just the right moments without trying to tease the viewer with false threats. The Broken is one of the better of this year's After Dark Horrorfest films but you can't help but think it could have been so much better.

Gina McVey is beside herself, literally! In this slow-paced creeper, Lena Headey plays a woman who one day sees another woman who looks exactly like her driving her car. Shortly after confronting her, Gina is involved in a car wreck, and afterwards cannot remember if what she saw was real, or simply a result of a mental lapse from the wreck. Soon, she cannot even be sure if the people around her are who they say they are.

THE BROKEN is one of the very few high end movies of this year's 8 Films To Die For. The presence of recognizable actors such as Richard Jenkins and 300's Lena Headey add definite polish in the performance category. The cinematography is excellent, expertly creating a moody and eerie atmosphere. The style and pace of the film bring to mind M. Night Shyamalan, and the creeping under-the-surface paranoia of J-horror films such as PULSE.

Pacing, however, does prove to be the film's one weakness. At first, the slow momentum seems to be building to something great - lots of slow camera moves, long shots of characters looking forlornly in those spooky mirrors. This creates a very unnerving feeling . . . for awhile. Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes, I started losing patience and wanted to start getting somewhere! The film has an interesting story to tell, but it isn't a very complicated one. As such, it is pretty clear to see where things are headed, and unless you are pretty slow, there isn't really much of a twist to it. As such, I think this would have worked much better as a short film. The action could easily have been confined to a 30-minute running time.

Another issue that some people may have is there is no explanation for the events of the film. You will have a clear understanding of WHAT happened, but not WHY it happens. As I thought about it later, I think an explanation would have only weakened the overall film - too many movies force-feed the audience an explanation that generally weakens the impact. Here, something awful happens, and we don't know why, and that in itself becomes part of the horror. Personally, I don't have a problem with it, but some viewers might.

All told, this one ranks near the top of the pack, even with it's threadbare story. Some of the moments, particularly near the end, will really crawl under your skin. Very few of the films in this year's festival had any impact at all (other than annoyance) - but this one got to me. I wish it had been fleshed out just a little more with better character development. But I think most people will enjoy it - just have something lighthearted planned for afterward!!

The movie has its own style, nice and moody. It seems the director took the minimalistic approach. Scenes are full of almost still shots and ambient tune is very minimal. Even the characters talk in low tone, when they do that is.

The climax of the movie is near the very end and you get only a few hints, again closer to the end. Other than that you are just watching Gina looking for answers. No action or scary moment in the movie at all. Not even a regular jumping cat or something, just couple of mirrors, that's it.

Although I liked the idea, which is revealed at the end, I didn't quite get why, or to what end? The ending explains what happens with/to Gina, yes, but it certainly certainly doesn't concludes the story. Good as it is, but it could have been a lot better. Rent first.