Midlands Review of Broken
midlandsmovies • July 10, 2020
Midlands Review of Broken
Directed by Immanuel Dube
2020
Dube Productions
A woman wakes up to the sound of a man entering a flat in new short film Broken from student director Immanuel Dube.
Carrying an empty bottle and staggering to the couch, David (Darren Daly) is confronted by his partner Amanda (Michelle Darkin-Price) who chastises his destructive behaviour as she had planned a romantic night for the two of them.
But the drunken man upsets his partner by reminding her of their failure to have a baby pushing Amanda to break down crying.
Based on a true-life couple of the writer, Broken has honourable themes at its core as it tries to represent the difficulties and heartbreak of infertility and hard work involved in IVF.
And at the doctor’s surgery, the audience are reminded of the cost of the treatment and are told that this is the 4th round of treatment without success and other options could be considered.
Enjoying the floating camera work, the acting is solid but the locations are a little bland. However, they function appropriately as mere background for the two characters’ despair.
The issue of a couple struggling to conceive a baby is a unique subject matter and you feel for the character’s disappointment early. On the technical side, the short is adequate across the board without any flaws standing out but it is a little ordinary. Some further thought on lighting and cinematography would really assist its representation of the characters’ sentiments and emotional journey.
That said, it tackles hard-hitting and emotive themes in a respectable manner and leaves the audience with some alarming statistics about infertility in the UK. But also, as it does throughout, Broken makes you think about a subject matter that’s little talked about but does leave room for a bit of positivity amongst all the heartbreak.
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