FrightFest returns for 2024 to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a whole host of genre films across the August Bank Holiday weekend. From eagerly-anticipated found footage flicks to indie hidden gems, thousands of horror fans will find their new favourite film this weekend – and this is sure to be one of them. Kicking off the exciting weekend is Broken Bird, the feature debut from director, producer, and actor Joanne Mitchell after adapting her 2018 short film Sybil.
The twisty thriller tells the story of Sybil Chamberlain (Rebecca Calder), a mortician who has just accepted a job at a new funeral parlour. The lonely physician has spent her life looking for love after she lost her mother, father, and siblings during a tragic car accident at the age of 10. Now, she is engulfed by loneliness and spends a lot of her time wistfully imagining how life could be or attending poetry evenings to share her beautiful art. But her dark desires soon become progressively out of control, dragging in those who unwittingly enter her orbit.
It is impossible to predict where Broken Bird will go from start to finish. As soon as you begin to get a grasp on what might happen next, another curveball comes hurtling at you at terminal velocity. The film mercilessly taunts viewers by seemingly going in one direction, before quickly changing course. Broken Bird is a masterclass in how to craft a gripping thriller that keeps an audience guessing at every moment.
From the opening scene filled with imagery of twisted, lifeless birds, Broken Bird hints at the dark content within ready to chill. But it almost immediately pulls back, plunging into a quaint, Amelie-esque whimsical picture following an odd but certainly not dangerous young woman on a quest to find love and acceptance. It is this endearing depiction of Sybil that makes her actions so heinous and the direction the film goes down unbelievably unsettling.
Broken Bird is clearly a labour of love for Mitchell, and the attention to detail and amount of time she has sat with this film – from Sybil to its feature adaptation – shows in the minute character details and story development that makes it feel like a glimpse into the everyday life of these characters. Despite the bizarre events that unfold, everything within the film feels so believable thanks to how Mitchell tells the story without oversharing information and allowing our minds to jump to conclusions that are never resolved.
Calder delivers a riveting performance as the deeply troubled and painfully likeable Sybil, while Sacharissa Claxton is a powerhouse as Emma, a mother and police officer struggling with the loss of her son and falling deeper into the throes of alcohol addiction. Though only on screen for brief moments, both James Fleet and Jay Taylor deliver strong performances as funeral home owner Mr Thomas and Sybil's love interest Mark respectively.
Broken Bird is a bold film, one that takes big swings and, thankfully, does not have big misses. It is impossible to take your eyes off the screen with each revelation, and when everything ties together, it feels like the ultimate thrill despite the horrific nature of it all. With powerful performances and a unique story that explores some dark and devastating themes, Broken Bird kicks off FrightFest 2024 in style.
Broken Bird had its world premiere at FrightFest 2024 on Thursday, August 22.
