At last, I can finally tell you all about Joanne Mitchell’s fantastic Broken Bird after the world premiere last night @ FrightFest –
BROKEN BIRD opens nationwide in cinemas around the UK from Aug 30
Based on the award-winning short, Sybil, Broken Bird follows Sybill Chamberlain, a shy and lonely woman who has been dealt a tragically bad hand in life. At a young age, she was involved in a horrific car accident that killed her parents.
Not only did she lose her parents but she was also in the vehicle that crashed. The wreck wasn’t found for a long time, which meant that this poor little child was lying with the lifeless, decomposing corpses of her parents until help arrived. Sybill survived…but at what cost? Ask yourself: if something this horrendous happened to you, would you be the same child you were before the accident? No, you wouldn’t.
We now meet Sybil as an adult. She has two things that help her find escapism and comfort: Poetry and Dead Things (a pretty cool name for a band, right?). When she is not busy with her taxidermy, she is an obsessive regular at an open mic poetry night where she unleashes her poetic darkness to anyone who will listen.
It’s on these poetry nights that we start to see Sybil’s darker side. These open mic nights are for anyone who wants to get up and perform their piece but Sybill takes them a little more seriously. If she is not on stage, it doesn’t matter if it’s W.B Yeats up there, this night is Sybil’s night. Personally, if I saw her look at me strangely, I would be running out of the door.
Sybil then finds the perfect job – a funeral home/morgue assistant working under the supervision of the lovely owner who notices that Sybill is strangely perfect for this job, a job that most of the world would be terrified or grossed out to do.
Now, I want to keep the spoilers to a minimum, so, if what I wrote above is something you would enjoy then trust me, I haven’t even cracked open this macabre little gem yet.
Broken Bird is a multi-layered psychological horror with a lead character brilliantly written and beautifully/horrifically portrayed by Rebecca Calder. As much as I am terrified of this woman, there is a big part of me that just really wants to give her a big hug. This is such a weird thing to feel for a character that carries this darkness so if you’re reading this, Rebecca, well done! Sybill scared the sh*t out of me. Think Jean Pierre Junet’s Amelie is she was born into the Addam’s Family.
It is hard to believe that this is the feature-length debut from Joanne Mitchell. Broken Bird carries so many layers and it is masterfully shot and so well put together.
Screenwriter Dominic Brunt (Joanne’s husband ) understood the character that Joanne was trying to unleash on the world and has created one of the most terrifying yet sympathetic villains (if we could call her that) we’ve seen in a long time.
Congrats to the whole team of Broken Bird with their world premiere @ FrightFest 2024
Check out the Moviehooker interview with writer/director Joanne Mitchell BROKEN BIRD opens nationwide in cinemas around the UK from Aug 30
For any of those who’re looking forward to seeing Broken Bird, you can check out the short it’s based on below.
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BROKEN BIRD opens nationwide in cinemas around the UK from Aug 30
