I saw this film at this year's Dead by Dawn festival in Edinburgh.
You know the way you can watch a trailer, get excited by what you've seen and then be ultimately disappointed when you realise that the best bits were in that trailer? Well every so often a film comes along that bucks that trend and you realise what you have already seen was just a taste.
'Broken' is such a film.
The pace from the start is admirable, we know that a mother loves her daughter, so we're spared interminable scenes showing this. The main character is put in her predicament and we know just as much as she does (nothing). We have to found out information as she does. The film descends into mental one-upsmanship as cat and mouse struggle to get the upper hand.
For those weak stomached viewers... beware. This is a film that doesn't shy away from violence and its effects.. or showing them. People will do desperate and uncharacteristic things in the name of survival and when confronted by a cruel enemy, especially when a child is at stake. The escalating violence mirrors this desperation.
Not a film for everyone but an excellent one for those who enjoy quality genre cinema. Which let's face it, is becoming more and more rare.
9/10 James
You know the way you can watch a trailer, get excited by what you've seen and then be ultimately disappointed when you realise that the best bits were in that trailer? Well every so often a film comes along that bucks that trend and you realise what you have already seen was just a taste.
'Broken' is such a film.
The pace from the start is admirable, we know that a mother loves her daughter, so we're spared interminable scenes showing this. The main character is put in her predicament and we know just as much as she does (nothing). We have to found out information as she does. The film descends into mental one-upsmanship as cat and mouse struggle to get the upper hand.
For those weak stomached viewers... beware. This is a film that doesn't shy away from violence and its effects.. or showing them. People will do desperate and uncharacteristic things in the name of survival and when confronted by a cruel enemy, especially when a child is at stake. The escalating violence mirrors this desperation.
Not a film for everyone but an excellent one for those who enjoy quality genre cinema. Which let's face it, is becoming more and more rare.
9/10 James