Director Joanne Mitchell takes the viewers on a journey in the macabre horror-crime drama, Broken Bird, written by Dominic Brunt. Sybil (Rebecca Calder) is a strange taxidermist and mortician who is aloof and eccentric due to losing her family in a car accident as a child. To cope with her grief, she attends poetry readings to express her feelings. While visiting a museum, she develops a crush on Mark (Jay Taylor), the museum’s curator. Sybil finds him fascinating due to his knowledge of skeletal remains from ancient history. Her interest turns into a jealous obsession as she learns he has a fiancée, Tina (Robyn Rainsford).
Sybil’s jealousy brings out her destructive instincts as she destroys the gas tank on Mark’s motorcycle after she sees him with Tina at the museum. As a result, Mark ends up dying in a motorcycle accident. After Mark’s body is delivered to the mortuary Sybil works at, run by the widower Mr. Thomas (James Fleet), she becomes protective of his body. She does everything in her power to keep Tina away from viewing it.
Meanwhile, Emma (Sacharissa Clayton), a police officer, is grieving the death of her young child. Her grief gets worse after her son’s body is stolen from the open casket at his funeral. Emma’s boss, Miller (Rupert Procter), is helping her solve this case. Unfortunately, not much is known about the corpse theft at the moment. Coincidentally, Emma runs into Sybil on the street, bringing up a key memory of a mysterious woman at the funeral service.
“Sybil’s jealousy brings out her destructive instincts as she destroys the gas tank on Mark’s motorcycle after she sees him with Tina…”
The screenplay for Broken Bird is introspective and highly suspenseful. Sybil is a dynamic character who we come to understand. Her thoughts are conveyed in dream sequences and darkly humorous bits. One hilarious bit of dark comedy is a dream sequence where she helps a widow work through her anger, as they repeatedly punch her dead husband in the face due to his affairs and a drinking problem. These moments lighten up the film, contrasting well with the heavy themes of loneliness, grief, and obsession.
Clayton is the heart of the film. Her strong performance will connect with parents who have lost their children. Calder makes Sybil’s obsessions realistic. Even though Sybil is portrayed as a tragic villain, her feelings of loneliness and desire to be loved are still relatable. The characters’ realism only amplifies the eerie yet darkly funny vibes.
Broken Bird is excellent due to its complex characters and tight screenplay. The acting is strong, especially from Clayton, whose genuine emotions ring true. The horror feels real, stemming from an understandable though creepy obsession from a person who is empathetically broken.
"…though Sybil is portrayed as a tragic villain, her feelings of loneliness and desire to be loved are still relatable."
