The Broken

"The Brøken" does have its moments. The atmosphere is eerie throughout. The stage design is sparse and somewhat bleak, which is fitting with the movie's general theme.

The problem is that there is too little story here. The writer/director Sean Ellis tries to solve this problem with short intercut scenes and unsettling movie. At first it works and you're intrigued, but at some point it just seems as if Ellis was beating a dead horse. It's like: "Yeah, we've seen these flashbacks, now could you PLEASE go on with the story."

And what is the story anyway? We never find out. Why is there a psychiatrist in the movie? Why are the characters introduced so long, when their relations never amount to anything?

"The Brøken" seems like an underdevelopped idea and the ending is rather predictable. It's not a complete waste of time, but in the end it's pretty much pointless.

Having read many of the comments here, I'm surprised that no one has recognized this as basically an overlong remake of a Twilight Zone episode from 1960 called "Mirror Image," starring Vera Miles. Rod Serling did a much better job of creating an effective spooky tale in 24 minutes than Sean Ellis did in 88 minutes with this tedious snooze. A short piece can be effective with a mysterious and unexplained ending, but in a feature film, there should be a bit more substance and the story should make sense. Sadly, substance and sense are two things missing from "The Broken." Yes, it has some moments, but they are not enough to justify your time. Some further observations: although this is clearly a contemporary story, not one character in the movie has a cellphone! And even though a car accident is the event that gets the story going, there is never any reference to an insurance company, to the person who was driving the other car, or to the police who would have been required to do a report. My advice: skip this bore and watch the original instead!

But not really bad. The main thing/problem about this movie is, that you have seen it before. And much better (most of the times). Don't get me wrong, it begins strong and even has a few shocking/shivering scenes towards the end, but most won't even bother paying attention to those scenes.

Although the actors try really hard, they can't compensate for some script/logic flaws, that almost every other horror/thriller movie like this has. You could name-check the movies ripped off (aka paying tribute to) here, but that will only as a movie knowledge game between you and your friends. Predictable, but still decent, you might have better things to do with your time ...

A scary experience and a very unsettling film. I am quite surprised of the low rating of this movie here in the IMDb database (5.5 as of June 2012). The life of radiologist Gina McVey changes forever the night she organizes a surprise birthday party for her father. The changes are very subtle at first but there is this weird feeling that something is wrong. Gina begins to have suspicions of the behavior of some of the people close to her and makes the connection that the problem may be due to a concussion she suffered in a car accident.

The reality however is more grim and we are taken by surprise from what Gina discovers in her search to clear things out. Mirrors are important in this film.

The movie can be considered to belong to the horror genre although there is no gore and the violence is only suggested, not shown explicitly. Quite an experience and I would especially recommend it if you enjoyed the old British Hammer series. My rating: 8/10.

While 'The Broken' doesn't cover any new ground, it is still very well-made, well-acted and effective. Lena Headey and the cast are flawless. The lighting, color and photography of the film are stylish and attractive. The symbolism and foreshadowing are well-handled. I'm surprised that it hasn't been better-received. It is an 'art film', which might not be to the taste of those who like gory horror flicks, but for those who like creativity and chilling subtlety it is more than satisfying.

'The Broken' is for those who like 'The Orphanage', 'Dark Water', 'House of Voices', and the original 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'.