The opening shot of Broken Bird is of a dead bird, but at its core, this is a movie about broken people and how they cope with death and loss. In her feature film directorial debut, Joanne Mitchell presents us with a sensitive, dark, and sometimes quirky tale of a woman who has a special relationship with death.
The story is told through the sometimes unreliable eyes of Sybil Chamberlain (Rebecca Calder), a romantic soul who writes poetry and spends her evenings awkwardly presenting them at a local spoken-word club. She likes to pick up roadkill for her taxidermy hobby. Sybil was broken as a child when she survived an auto crash that killed the rest of her family and now the only people she relates to are dead people. They alleviate her crippling loneliness.
So it's only natural that Sybil works as an assistant mortician. She has just taken on a job working for the kindly Mr. Thomas (James Fleet), a mortician who is coping with the recent death of his wife in his own peculiar manner.
Emma (Sacharissa Claxton) is a London police investigator who has lost her son, is estranged from her husband, and is now on the verge of losing her job. Her life is consumed by trauma and guilt which she is treating with alcohol and pills.
Broken Bird holds its cards close to its chest, slowly revealing information on a need-to-know basis. The film guides us into the minds of both Sybil and Emma through the use of a somber color palette and a sensitive musical score. Joanne Mitchell has crafted an artistically restrained film that feels disjointed at first, demanding close attention, but in the final act, the connections between these characters pays off big in an unexpectedly dark and somewhat gothic way.
While tragedy and sadness abound in Broken Bird, it's offset by the wild imaginations of Sybil, our unreliable guide. There is a very funny scene involving a widow viewing the body of her good-for-nothing husband that had me laughing out loud because it was so ludicrous and outrageous. I was a little disappointed when it was revealed to just be Sybil's fantasy, but it was necessary to give us a glimpse into her tormented mind and to question every action she takes.
Emma, on the other hand, keeps the story grounded. She's clearly been a competent cop for years but has reached her breaking point. It's painful watching her drunk-call her ex husband in a desperate plea to somehow reverse time to before they lost their son. She suggests that perhaps the boy's just been hiding this whole time. She is haunted by the minutes leading up to the death of her son, wanting just one chance to live that day again, except to be there when it counted. Sacharissa Claxton's performance is a poignant and beautifully crafted portrayal of a parent experiencing not just loss of a child, but a loss with a horrific twist that shocked me when it was revealed.
Although Sybil is obsessed with dead things and very much in the perfect profession, Rebecca Calder plays the part with a certain glee and goofiness that provides a bit of comic relief, even if it is just in her head. This is a fascinating, nuanced character who is full of demented surprises right up until the final scene. She may be dangerous and demented, but I also kind of like her!
It's interesting to note the five stages of grief loosely depicted in Broken Bird. Mr. Thomas, the mortician, has adapted to his loss through a sort of permanent (if ghoulish) denial. The aforementioned widow is clearly stuck in the anger stage. Emma is bargaining (albeit drunkenly) with the universe for the return of her son, but is ultimately in the depression stage.
Sybil has reached an unhealthy form of acceptance. She has allowed her pain to build up since childhood and fills her loneliness with creativity: poetry and taxidermy. They are her escapes from reality, but eventually imagination isn't enough. Her desires must be satisfied in a world in which she is emotionally ill-equipped. She equates happiness and pleasure with death.
Broken Bird is an outstanding movie and one of my favorite films of 2024. It's gloomy, dark and depressing, beautifully shot with solid performances. There is a nice amount of practical gore effects (I mean, it's in a mortuary), and some horrific scenes of horror, especially toward the end. I'm really forward to seeing whatever Joanne Mitchell directs next.
