The Brøken

Proving that less can sometimes be more, the extras for The Brøken, though totalling just under an hour have a lot to say in their short runtime. The Behind The Scenes segment is shot fly-on-the-wall style, which proves to be vastly more entertaining and informative than many of its type, since it eschews any sort of over-producing to just show us what happened as they shot several scenes.

This not only brings a fresh perspective to key points of the movie – including the car crash and the dinner party segment in which a mirror breaks – but also allows us to see both the cast and the director ‘at work’ off camera. It shows how serious director Sean Ellis is on set – and gives a sense of his attention to detail. The 23-minute film is rounded out by a section in which we see an orchestra recording incidental music for the film. Since the scoring plays such a big part in creating The Brøken’s mood, it’s fascinating to see it as a work in progress.

The second extra is a set of interviews with all the main members of the cast and Ellis. Simply shot, with some thoughtful choices of background, each is intercut with intertitles indicating what question has just been asked. It’s interesting to note that several of the cast members mention the ‘watching list’ of films that Ellis recommended for them to help build their characters. It sounds as though he kept them pretty busy, since everything from Hammer horror and Replusion through to Klute and Alien gets a mention.

Another common theme in the interviews is the sense that the cast have been deliberately kept in the dark about when they are and aren’t playing the doppelgangers. “Seeing it will be good,” says Lena Heady (Gina), “it will all make sense to me then.” While Richard Jenkins (John) adds: “The truth is, I don’t know where it’s going.”

For those feeling somewhat let down by the lack of a back story for the doppelgangers, stick around for Ellis’s interview, in which he explains why he chose not to give easy answers and where the original idea springs from (plus you can read more about the film in our exclusive interview with him).