CINEMA: The Broken

Yet more British horror in this small, intense, but rather detached movie from Sean Ellis, who won an Oscar for his short movie Cashback.

Gina (Lena Headey) works as a radiologist at a large, grey London hospital, and enjoys a close-knit relationship with her family. So, on the occasion of her father’s birthday, she gets together with her brother (Asier Newman), his girlfriend (Michelle Duncan) and her fiancé (Melvil Poupaud) to have a magnificent dinner. When a large mirror falls off the wall and smashes during the meal they make nervous jokes about seven years of bad luck – before their lives take a decidedly sinister turn for the worse. Gina feels anxious and is worried she is becoming psychotic when she thinks she sees herself driving by. She is so disconcerted she has a car accident and ends up consulting a counsellor – which is where her nightmare really begins and the bad luck starts to kick off.

This is a film covering dark material and shot in dark greys and neutral tones. In fact, it is sometimes so dark you cannot see what lurks in the shadows. Although the shots are beautifully composed, their lack of clarity and a rather clunky script means scenes seem to go on interminably. The film’s other problem is a lack of sophistication; at times things are spelled out as if for a child, so what should be really spooky and otherworldly is simply a little uncomfortable. In this case less really would have been more.

Although Ellis is obviously a director to watch in the future, he needs better material than this with which to make his mark.      Dee Pilgrim