The Brøken (2008)

Director:

Sean Ellis

Writer:

Sean Ellis (writer)

Release Date:

15 November 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Face your fears.

Plot:

In London, the radiologist Gina McVey organizes a surprise birthday party to her father John McVey with her boyfriend Stefan Chambers...

Plot Keywords:

Mystery Woman | Car Accident | Radiologist | Nightmare | Broken Mirror

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Lena Headey	...	Gina McVey
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Dr. Robert Zachman
Melvil Poupaud	...	Stefan Chambers
Michelle Duncan	...	Kate Coleman
Asier Newman	...	Daniel McVey
Richard Jenkins	...	John McVey
Daren Elliott Holmes	...	Simon the Garage Manager
Howard Ward	...	Jim
Damian O'Hare	...	Anthony
Dennis Banks	...	Doorman
In-Sook Chappell	...	Crash Nurse
Peta Longstaff	...	A&E Team
Ziad Alyan	...	A&E Team
Lucy Bingham	...	A&E Team
Marie Flood	...	A&E Team

Also Known As:

The Broken (France) (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence, brief sexuality/nudity and language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Japan:PG-12 | USA:R | France:U (with warning) | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Bayswater, London, England, UK

Company:

Gaumont

Trivia:

The inventive spelling of the title reads somewhat silly in Norwegian and Danish since the Ø in broken is a letter in the alphabet in these languages and sounds like the "u" in "burden". In addition "brøken" is a Norwegian word meaning "the fraction".

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the beginning of the movie, when she is examining X-rays, she shows her assistant a case of Situs Inversus. This refers to people who are born with one or more organs reversed in position. She states that the condition is very rare, occurring only once in every 1000 births. In truth, Situs Inversus occurs once in every 10,000 births.

Quotes:

[Kate and Gina are kneeling down to sweep up the large mirror that suddenly broke during dinner while the men of the family stand by and watch them]
Kate Coleman: [Quietly to Gina] I guess that's seven years back luck then.
Gina McVey: [mischievously whispering] I thought it was seven years bad sex.
Kate Coleman: No, I've already had that.
Daniel McVey: Oi, I heard that.
Kate Coleman: [smiling up at her husband] Baby, that was before I met you.
[John, Gina and Kate's father, is apparently oblivious to the entire by-play that's occurred and preoccupied by the broken mirror]
John McVey: Do you think we can fix it?

Enjoyable and almost intriguing, but definitely incomplete.

From the beginning this film had an eerie dark feel which I love, although the first half is quite slow and I was disappointed with the numerous musical pieces that lead me to believe something was about to happen, but did not. The story itself tells little about anything, and of course makes no sense, even the characters or the menacing force that's intruding into their lives is faceless, but I will say it has a "body snatchers" and "the astronaut's wife" feel. I understood the ending, but it still leaves one to wonder what the hell was going on. It's one of those films where you kinda want a sequel to continue the story in hopes of understanding it, but at the same time you know one is not coming, and even if one was, the characters are all pretty much used up anyway. For an independent psychological horror I loved it, but it leaves one asking for more than they should have to. Maybe that's the idea of the film. For me this film is conflicting, I originally gave it a 6 but had to bump it up.