The Broken (2008)
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44% of critics liked it
(36 reviews) -
62% want to see it
(1,087 ratings)
A woman is thrust into a world where everything is subtly unfamiliar in this edgy thriller from writer and director Sean Ellis. Gina McVay (Lena Headey) is a radiologist who is enjoying dinner one evening with her family and her boyfriend Stefan (Melvil Poupaud) when a mirror shatters for no… More A woman is thrust into a world where everything is subtly unfamiliar in this edgy thriller from writer and director Sean Ellis. Gina McVay (Lena Headey) is a radiologist who is enjoying dinner one evening with her family and her boyfriend Stefan (Melvil Poupaud) when a mirror shatters for no apparent reason. After a few moments, no one thinks much of it, but the next day Gina is leaving work and she sees something even more troubling -- a woman who looks just like her, driving a car identical to her own. Curious, Gina sneaks into the doppelganger's apartment and sees a photo of herself and her father in the hallway. Seriously rattled, Gina runs out and drives away, only to get in an accident that lands her in the hospital. After she's released, Gina asks Stefan if she can stay with him, but while he looks the same, his personality and behavior are quite different from the way she remembers him, and she begins having vivid nightmares which become all the more terrifying when the same horrific images begin popping up in her waking hours. The Broken received its American premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Sean Ellis
- Written By
- Sean Ellis
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Horror
- Studio
- After Dark Films
Critic Reviews
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Tom Huddlestone, Time Out
Fleeting pleasures are undermined by an inane, directionless narrative, barely-even-one-dimensional characters and an overall sense of superficiality.
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Justin Chang, Variety
A brooding, atmospheric exercise in upscale psychological horror.
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R. L. Shaffer, IGN DVD
While the film might not work for fans of today's faster-paced horror/thrillers, The Broken is a creepy little pot boiler that's likely to get under the skin of many horror fans.
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Anton Bitel, Little White Lies
The Brøken may offer a somewhat derivative resolution, but it gets there via an aptly fractured narrative, intertwining two radically different kinds of story type to disorienting effect.
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Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
This rather nutty thriller begins to fall apart the more it tries to explain its premise, but it maintains a terrific sense of suspense right to the end
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Lena Headey
as Gina McVey
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Ulrich Thomsen
as Dr. Robert Zachman
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Melvil Poupaud
as Stephan Moreau
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Michelle Duncan
as Kate Coleman
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Asier Newman
as Daniel McVey
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Richard Jenkins
as John McVey
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Daren Elliott Holmes
as garage manager
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Howard Ward
as Jim
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William Armstrong
as Dr. Kenrick
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Damian O'Hare
as Anthony