''Broken'' is a 2012 British

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Rufus Norris Rufus Norris (born 16 January 1965) is a British theatre and film director, who is currently the Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of the National Theatre. Life and career Norris grew up in Africa and Malaysia, attended North Bromsgr ...

starring Eloise Laurence and

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack". He made his television debut ...

. The film premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in May 2012. It is based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Daniel Clay, which was partly inspired by Harper Lee's 1960 novel ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...

''.

Plot

Eleven-year-old

diabetic Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

Emily 'Skunk' Cunningham lives with her solicitor father Archie, her elder brother Jed, and

au pair An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a mon ...

Kasia on a cul-de-sac in a British suburb. One of her few friends is Rick, a slightly simple young man living with his parents in a nearby house. Skunk is shocked when Rick gets beaten up by single-father Mr. Oswald, another neighbour: one of three of his daughters (Saskia, Susan, and Sunrise) has falsely accused Rick of rape. He is released when she is proven a liar, but he closes himself off. From then on Skunk's life goes downhill. Kasia splits up with her boyfriend Mike, who is also Skunk's favourite teacher. Rick is put into a mental ward as he isolates himself more and more. Archie and Kasia are beginning a relationship, a shock to both Mike and Skunk. Oswald's daughters start bullying Skunk when the new term starts. Her first boyfriend suddenly has to move away, and does not tell her until the day before he leaves. One of Oswald's daughters, Susan, gets pregnant by one of her many sexual partners, panics, and falsely accuses Mike. Oswald barges into Skunk's classroom and beats Mike. While Oswald is in jail, Archie provides legal services to Mike, and the three daughters throw a drunken party. Susan miscarries at a house party, then dies, leading to Oswald's release. Skunk secretly visits Rick when he has his first weekend at home. When she enters the house, she finds that Rick has accidentally broken his mother's neck, pushing her down the stairs, then panicked and knocked out his father. He won't let Skunk leave and does not realise Skunk's diabetes takes her into a hypoglycemic coma. Oswald finds Skunk, and a dead Rick (suicide), and gets her to hospital. In a dream sequence, Skunk bids farewell to people from her childhood, including the recently dead, then sees her grown self, holding her baby. She wakes up in the hospital, with her father at her side.

Cast

as Archie *

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy (; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Originally the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, he turned down a record deal in the late 1990s and began acting on stage and in short an ...

as Mike Kiernan *

Rory Kinnear Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor and playwright who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. In 2014, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of William Sha ...

as Bob Oswald * Robert Emms as Rick *

Zana Marjanović Zana Marjanović (born 31 May 1983) is a Bosnian actress best known for her leading role in Angelina Jolie's directorial debut ''In the Land of Blood and Honey'' (2011). She is an alumna of Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. Filmography ;Fil ...

as Kasia *

Clare Burt Clare Burt is an English actress and singer, best known for her stage work and for her appearance on the television series ''The Bill''. Biography As a child she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Burt is a member of the National Theat ...

as Mrs Buckley *

Bill Milner William Henry Milner (born 4 March 1995) is an English actor. He starred as Will Proudfoot in ''Son of Rambow'' (2007), Edward in '' Is Anybody There?'' (2008), and the young Erik Lensherr in '' X-Men: First Class'' (2011). Early life William ...

as Jed * Denis Lawson as Mr Buckley *Eloise Laurence as Skunk *

Michael Shaeffer Michael Shaeffer is an English actor, known for his roles as "Longcross" in the BBC political-thriller television series '' Bodyguard'' (2018), Sergeant Yelland in the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best te ...

as Desk Sergeant *Martha Bryant as Sunrise * Faye Daveney, as Saskia *Rosalie Kosky-Hensman as Susan *

Lily James Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson (born 5 April 1989), better known by her stage name Lily James, is an English actress. She studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and began her career in the British television series ''Ju ...

as older Skunk

Reception

Accolades

''Broken'' premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2012. It won Grand Prix of

Odessa International Film Festival The Odesa International Film Festival ( uk, Оде́ський міжнаро́дний кінофестива́ль) is an annual film festival held in the middle of July in Odesa. Since 2016 the festival program has consisted of three parts: ...

in 2012. The film received the Golden Eye Award for best international film on the

Zurich Film Festival Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is an annual film festival that has been held in Zürich, Switzerland, since 2005. The festival's main focus is to promote emerging filmmakers from all over the world. In three competition categories only first, secon ...

. It also won

The British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

2012 for Best British Independent Film.

Critical reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews by critics. It holds a 62% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 50 reviews and reports a rating average of 6.0 out of 10.

References

External links

*
Wild Bunch International Sales
{{To Kill a Mockingbird 2012 films 2012 drama films 2010s coming-of-age drama films 2010s English-language films British coming-of-age drama films Febiofest award winners Films about dysfunctional families Films based on British novels 2010s British films