The Broken (2008)

After seeing herself drive down the street, Radiologist Gina McVey unravels a mystery centered around a broken mirror.

Director:

Sean Ellis

Writer:

Sean Ellis

Stars:

Lena Headey, Ulrich Thomsen, Melvil Poupaud

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In London, the radiologist Gina McVey organizes a surprise birthday party to her father John McVey with her boyfriend Stefan Chambers, her brother Daniel McVey and his girlfriend Kate Coleman. On the next day, she sees herself driving a car on the street and she follows the woman to her apartment, where she finds a picture of her father and her. While driving back, she has a car crash and loses parts of her memory; further, she believes Stefan is another man. Gina decides to investigate what is happening and unravels a dark reality.

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Plot Keywords:

car crash | broken mirror | doppelganger | murder of a nude woman | nudity | 

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Taglines:

What lies behind a mirror?

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

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 the Norwegian and Danish word meaning "the fraction".

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Goofs

As Gina walks past the wrecked cars in the wrecking yard, she passes the same car (J667 YWY) twice, only a few seconds apart, without changing direction.

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Quotes

[Gina is studying a set of chest X-rays in her office when Jim approaches and looks at them as well]
Gina McVey: Who are these for?
Jim: Dr. Waters.
Gina McVey: Interesting.
Jim: What?
Gina McVey: Well, do you notice anything?
Jim: They're back to front?
Gina McVey: No, look. Left and right tags.
Jim: The heart's on the right side of the body?
Gina McVey: [Nodding] Dextrocardia with situs inversus. It's not uncommon, but it's pretty rare. One in every thousand.

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Crazy Credits

If the music played during the first half of the closing credits sounds a bit off, that's because it's being played backwards.

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Alternate Versions

Lionsgate released the DVD in North American with a cropped 1.78:1 ratio. This means approx 24 percent of the original composition is missing. The DVD release in European was in its original cinematic ratio of 2.35:1. Same cropping goes for the Scandinavian DVD and Blu-ray releases by Atlantic Film.

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Soundtracks

Klettar
Written by Arnar Gudjonsson
Played during the end credits

User Reviews

Padded version of an old Twilight Zone episode

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!

Details

Official Sites:

Gaumont [France]

Country:

UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 November 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

Buro-Kun

Filming Locations:

Bayswater, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP4,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,688,551

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont, Left Turn Films, Gaumont International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1