Broken Bird

The opening feature at Frightfest 2024, Broken Bird is a film you will want to reach out and touch. Everything is wonderfully textured, from the perfectly chosen fabrics in costumes and set dressing to chilled post-mortem skin or the ragged fur of the fox whom Sybil (Rebecca Calder) finds in the road and takes home to restore with taxidermy. There’s an irony to this because, despite being at the centre of it all, Sybil somehow finds herself unable to touch anything living. She longs to, but life seems to keep her at a distance, this awkward, flighty creature, denying her its warmth. Only in her imagination can she find the intimacy she longs for.

Sybil might seem to be an unlikely protagonist – a quiet, efficient but nervy woman who seems most at ease in the funeral home where she finds work. She hovers on the sidelines whilst other characters have life-defining issues to deal with. The owner of the funeral home, Mr Thomas, is trying to find purpose in life following the death of his beloved wife. Police officer Emma is trying to cope after the disappearance of her son. And then there’s Mark, whom Sybil takes a shine to after encountering him at the museum where he works. Mark seems to have everything; a job he enjoys, a fulfilling social life, and, as it turns out, a beautiful fiancée. Sybil, however, is not the sort of person to give up on her dreams.

Despite its sinister leanings, which culminate in a spectacular Gothic finale, Broken Bird is primarily a character study, and Calder is its greatest asset. Physically bird-like in her slender, angular build, with eyes that dart around sharply and an exaggerated way of moving her head and limbs, she could easily come across as a caricature, but there’s a vulnerability underlying it all that is quite affecting. She can shift gears in an instant between the viciousness of a hungry kestrel and the helpless, injured look of a fledgling fallen from the nest. Whilst the film’s slowly unravelling mysteries will reveal that she has been in a dangerous state for quite some time, it is pitiable as well as disturbing to see her slipping further out of control.

Calder so dominates the film that, unfortunately, other characters don’t get much room to develop, and some of the viewers I spoke to confessed to being confused by their storylines. The actors are generally impressive and do their best to fill in what’s missing from the script. The locations are also well realised and feel very lived-in, each with its distinct personality. The narrative tone is uneven and this is sometimes problematic, but when Calder is onscreen it seems consistent with Sybil’s unstable mood. In relation to that, it makes complete sense that there would be moments of lively black comedy side by side with the dull ache of grief or thriller elements; that the misery of enduring terrible poetry would be adjacent to an erotic performance, the horror of a remembered car crash or a child’s excited exploits when dressed as his hero, Fox Man.

This is Mitchell’s most sophisticated work to date, and where it falls short, it does so in interesting ways that promise good things to come. It’s her début as a director, but confidently delivered – and whilst it might not be the strongest film at Frightfest, it’s certainly one that you won’t forget in a hurry.