Broken (2006) - Unrated

Movie

Rating: UR
Length: 83 minutes

Video

Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Audio

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 2.0
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 2.0

Captions

English, Spanish

Purchase

Plot

A mother of a young daughter is abducted by a man and kept hostage in the woods for over a month. She originally passes a "test" that makes her worthy to continue living. Will she ever escape?

Pros

If you take the time to watch the extras, and you should, you'll find out that this British film was completed for less than 10,000 pounds. That's much less than the cost of a new car. Knowing that ahead of time will help you to appreciate what you are getting in return. The two main leads turned in an incredible performance (being chained to a tree during the English winter with only a blouse and a skirt could not have been fun). There is the required gore and violence but it's not overdone. The scariest part of the movie is, unlike most films of this genre, the woman isn't a tall anorexic blonde with medical enhancements and no brain. This is an attractive yet average person caught in some extraordinary circumstances that could be someone you know.

Cons

There is some sick stuff in the beginning; most people (at least the ones I would want to hang out with) will cringe at the very least. Watching an apparently nice women being tortured is not something normal people are going to enjoy. Watching how she survives and changes is. Without giving away the ending, I didn't like it at first. But the more I thought about it and what I came up as alternatives the more it grew on me.

Extras

Feature Commentary With Writer/Directors Adam Mason and Simon Boyes
"I Want You to Break" - The Making of Broken
Interview with Actress Nadja Brand
Production Photo Gallery
Trailer

Recommendation

If movies can give you bad dreams, stay away from this one. This is not for everyone to say the least. If you like horror or psychological terror films, this is certainly worth the time. If not, do yourself a favor and watch something else. At least stop by your favorite DVD store and check out the sleave the case is in; pretty cool.