FILM: Broken (15)

Award-winning stage director Rufus Norris makes an assured debut behind the camera with this gritty snapshot of suburban malaise, shot through the eyes of an 11-year-old girl called Skunk (Eloise Laurence).
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Mar 2013, 17:00 BST

She lives in a cul-de-sac with her father (Tim Roth) and views the world without the cynicism of the other residents. When Mr Oswald (Rory Kinnear), who lives next door with his three tearaway daughters, assaults mentally unbalanced neighbour Rick (Robert Emms) based on a lie told by one of his girls,

Skunk’s world unravels at frightening speed and she unwittingly finds herself in terrible danger.

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There is something inherently theatrical about Mark O’Rowe’s script, based on the novel by Daniel Clay, with its explosions of violence that leave half the characters nursing deep and sometimes fatal wounds.

Broken paints a grim picture of the modern family unit, daring to peek behind twitching net curtains to glimpse the terrible secrets that divide the generations.

Laurence is mesmerising, effortlessly shouldering the emotional burden of the film’s most intense scenes, while Roth offers solid support as her protective single father.

Released: March 8 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas), 91 mins