The Broken

Gina is a radiologist who sees a woman driving by that looks exactly like her. She follows the woman to an apartment but just as they’re about to confront each other we are transported to the next scene, Gina driving away.

Distracted by her reflection in the rear view mirror she crashes. Recovering in hospital her memory of those events are either jumbled or lost.

Recovering at her boyfriend’s home she becomes convinced that he is not the same man, that he has been replaced.

Her psychiatrist tells her that her feelings are due to the trauma of the accident. Is it all in her head? Did she even see her double? If not then why does she keep finding smashed mirrors?

The Broken is a British psychological horror released in 2008 by director Sean Ellis and starring Lena Headey of ‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ and ‘300’ fame.

Making great use of the London environment it incorporates the feel of both French and Korean horror films.

The horror is not purely from gore (although there are some blood filled scenes) but through the tension and the general sense of dread.

Some may find the film slow and it is true that many shots linger. This is all in the service of building anticipation, the feeling that something is about to loom out from just off frame. By keeping the camera in close to the main characters, particularly Gina, our view of her surroundings are limited, forcing us to pay extra attention.

Often characters will only be glimpsed, such as Gina’s double, just on the edge of the screen as she doggedly tries to catch up to them. It can also build tension as a character surveys a new area, slowly revealing what horrible thing might be present.

Mirrors become a sinister presence, suggesting they are portals to some other-worldly plane. Characters will be looking at their reflections and the camera will cut to a reverse shot, as if their double was gazing at them through a window.

Visually the film is a treat. There are several long sequences with virtually no dialogue, the images on the screen communicating everything. At one point Gina’s father is in a public toilet and notices a smashed mirror. He becomes aware that someone is in one of the cubicles.

The camera shows a close up of the lock, slowly turning from ‘Engaged’ to ‘Vacant’. Who is in there? What will they do when the door opens?

Just as the door unlocks a janitor enters the room and the lock instantly clicks back to ‘Engaged’. The father is safe for now but we still don’t know who is in the cubicle, or rather what.

In another scene Gina tries to sleep after the accident but is kept awake by a leak in the roof causing a single drop of water to thud into an empty bath, over and over again. In her mind the water becomes blood, soon filling the tub.  Its just a fantasy but communicates how tortured Gina is, her own mind acting against her and preventing her from getting any rest.

London is presented as a grubby, industrial place. We are enclosed in fluorescent lit hospital corridors, dark subway trains and junk yards filled with rusting heaps of metal.

The car crash itself is something the film returns to time and time again, as Gina attempts to put the pieces together. We see the two vehicles collide and break apart in slow motion, in almost loving detail.

All of which gives the environment a hostile, uncaring feel. If we were replaced the city would feel nothing, the change would go completely unnoticed.

Lena Headey does an excellent job of portraying Gina’s isolation and confusion. She is as confused as the audience at what is real and what isn’t.

Playing with the use of flash backs we are reshown events, sometimes with minor changes, making us doubt our own perception and memory.

Did the boyfriend’s eyes really flash red in that scene earlier? Did a demonic shadowy form momentarily appear across his face?

During the course of the film the plot does open up, with others experiencing similar events. Particularly effective is the scene in which Gina’s father’s secretary mentions having seen him on the street during lunch.

We transition to a grainy flash back and just as the ‘father’ is about to turn around to face the secretary we cut back to the present where the father explains that he hadn’t left the building, leaving the secretary very confused about who she saw.

This, then, is a film that is primarily concerned with identity, both ours and others. Could those around us be replaced? Do we even know who we are and why we do what we do?

One of the things that fixates Gina is that there was a photo of her double with her father in the apartment. She holds on to this photo, even risking her life to retrieve it when it falls on subway tracks.

There is a sense that she is being replaced and with that a feeling of worthlessness. After all, if we’ve not unique then why are we important?

There is also an element of betrayal that her father is pictured with a woman who isn’t her. Earlier, at a family gathering, her father tells a story about an unfaithful woman. It is apparently a story he has told many time and certainly reinforces the idea of not being true to those closest to you and the feelings jealousy that can inspire.

As things escalate there are more visceral scenes of violence. One highlight is a bloody shower murder which is certain to recall the famous scene from ‘Psycho’.

No doubt there will be some that we be disappointed at the films ending. There aren’t any answers. We don’t know why this is happening.

Personally I don’t view this as a problem. Not everything needs an explanation along as the plot is internally consistent.

Gina reaches the end of her particular story. We don’t need to know how it started or what happens next. The tale has reached its conclusion.

Much as ‘The Twilight Zone’ would have inexplicable things happen the phenomena is simply a means to explore the reaction of the characters.

For those with patience and a wish to see a thought provoking take on ‘Invasion of the Body-Snatchers’ this film is well worth seeking out.

Rating: 8/10