RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Broken
The Broken

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Broken (2009)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
31 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:26

Fresh:8

Rotten:18

Average Rating:4/10

Consensus: A British chiller lacking in strongly drawn characters, The Broken feels unfinished and undercooked.

Rated: 15

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:30-01-2009

Synopsis: Lena Headey (TV's TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES) stars in this disturbing horror film as a woman who glimpses someone who looks just like her. In her search for answers, she comes to the... Lena Headey (TV's TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES) stars in this disturbing horror film as a woman who glimpses someone who looks just like her. In her search for answers, she comes to the startling realization that her loved ones may be involved in this sinister mystery. THE BROKEN is directed by CASHBACK's Sean Ellis, and it also features Richard Jenkins (THE VISITOR) and Melvil Poupaud (BROKEN ENGLISH). [More]

Starring: Lena Headey, Richard Jenkins, Ulrich Thomsen, Asier Newman

Starring: Lena Headey, Richard Jenkins, Ulrich Thomsen, Asier Newman, Melvil Poupaud, Michelle Duncan

Director: Sean Ellis

Director: Sean Ellis
Screenwriter: Sean Ellis
Producer: Lene Bausager
Composer: Guy Farley

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Broken

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The Sneak was left wishing another film would break through the screen.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
01/30/09
Sun Online

This unbelievably ponderous British chiller keeps priming us for some shocking revelations – oodles of "scary" incidental music, ominous shots of the London skyline – and signally fails to deliver them.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
01/30/09
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

Mr Ellis has some visual flair. He builds up a menacing atmosphere, and there are a few nasty shocks. However, he seems to have no sense at all of pace or humour. His screenplay is terrible.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
01/30/09
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

This is hardly a horror classic because it takes so damn long for anything to happen. And when it does, the ideas aren’t built upon, leaving you with the feeling the script is two or three rewrites away from a final draft.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
01/30/09
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

A slick but unscary spine-chiller.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment Comment
02/05/09
Edward Porter
Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)

The tedium is almost as annoying as the sound effects.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
01/30/09
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This stylishly-shot psycho-thriller from Sean Ellis is a creditable stab at the horror genre, but it lacks pace and plot. There's not enough blood 'n' gore for horror fans, while thriller admirers may find it too slow.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
01/30/09
Mark Adams
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]

This is very much a case of style over substance, but the atmospheric camerawork never really compensates for the subdued performances and a derivative, increasingly ridiculous plot.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
01/30/09
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

A Babel cast in a piece of free-associative gothic babble.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
01/30/09
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

The Brøken is interesting and confident in some ways, though laden down with unfinished moods, images, ideas - and a few scary-movie cliches. It looks like a short film pumped up to feature length.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/30/09
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Occasionally scary, often laughably portentous, never explained.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
02/05/09
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

The Broken isn’t a bad horror film. It’s just not a film—it’s scary footage that serves no purpose.

Full Review Source: News of the World | comment Comment
01/30/09
Robbie Collin
Robbie Collin
News of the World

Pompous and dour attempt at a psychological horror movie.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
01/30/09
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fleeting pleasures are undermined by an inane, directionless narrative, barely-even-one-dimensional characters and an overall sense of superficiality.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/30/09
Tom Huddlestone
Tom Huddlestone
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Why the evil-doers need to do what they do is never explained. All we get is an atmospheric soundtrack desperately seeking a horror movie.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
01/29/09
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

A cerebral horror that’s more creepily unsettling than out-and-out scary.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
01/30/09
Total Film

With a nod and a wink to Edgar Allan Poe and Hitchcock he has created a slick, supernatural thriller set in a cold and disquietingly quiet contemporary London.

Full Review Source: Little White Lies | comment Comment
01/30/09
Little White Lies

An extremely stylish, emotionally aloof film that lacks a strong enough story to create a great horror yarn.

Full Review Source: Daily Express | comment Comment
02/05/09
Allan Hunter
Allan Hunter
Daily Express

This chilling moodpiece is both psychological thriller and ghost story, with each holding up a mirror to how the other half lives.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/30/09
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Here is a film from a director with a little more imagination and skill than story-telling sense.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
01/30/09
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth
67% 67% Bruno
98% 98% Up
46% 46% My Sister's Keeper

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
6
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
6
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
20
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
38
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
  • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
156
  • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
56
  • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
14
  • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
  • Tron Legacy Duo Heading into The Black Hole Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
100
  • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
96
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
92
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
51
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
38
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
32
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
28
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
20
  • Duncan Jones Reteams With Kevin Spacey
5
  • 2010 Sundance Film Festival Lineup Announced
4
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
11
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
21
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Broken at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.