Broken Bird (Dark Bridges Film Festival)

Saturday, June 7, 2025
4:00 PM / Broadway Theatre

Broken Bird / UK/ 2024/ Dir: Joanne Mitchell/ 96 Min

The dark psychological drama/thriller Broken Bird follows two concurrentbut contrasting stories:Sybil’s and Emma’s. Sybil (Rebecca Calder) is prim and proper, quiet and eccentric-herdemeanor is unsettling but sort of charming. She has an affinity for taxidermy and poetry andoften finds herself swept up in dramatic fantasies. Sybil finds work at the mortuary with Mr.Thomas as his assistant. Visiting the Roman funerary exhibit at the museum she meets Adam-and develops an obsessive fantasy for him. From there things start to take a morbid turn. Emma(Saccharissa Claxton) is a police investigator coping with the loss of her son. Struggling with alcohol addiction and haunted by constant flashbacks of her last moments with her son, Emma takes some time away from work only to dive deep into searching for answers. With incredible performances from Rebecca Calder and the rest of the cast, the film starts almost as a dark comedy but descends into delusion and madness. Broken Bird gracefully and unnervingly takes its time unfolding each character's story of grief and loneliness, and how that can shape a person for better or for worse.

“Unlike many horror films, Broken Bird doesn’t aim to gross you out. It asks for your empathy and to consider how difficult it is letting go and being alone in such a cold world.” 
Maria Lattila, Film Stories

“The two stories come to a head in a wild third act. There are shocking reveals, beatings, kidnappings, and lots of corpses. It is a lot to take in, including some things that even the movieseems to forget about. But it is an overall creepy watch.” 
Nathaniel Muir, AIPT

“Rebecca Calder is mesmerizing and memorable in the starring role, the visuals are stunning, the plot is both satisfying and unique, and the ending is one of the most memorable, cold and chilling of this year’s horror releases thus far.” Rebecca Johnson, Film Focus Online