Broken Bird 2024 | Sybil is Cute But Damaged

Broken Bird is the type of film that gets under your skin and stays on your mind. A quick internet search resulted in knowing that the title itself is a movie trope. A rough explanation revolves around it meaning the scene is set. A Broken Bird is the result of some kind of catalytic trauma. They are described as dark but also cute. It perfectly describes Sybil Chamberlain.

A gothic horror Broken Bird was released to UK cinemas on August 30th, 2024 after a World premiere at FrightFest. And the title is original, interesting, and sinister. Sybil loves poetry and dead people. She is quiet, well-dressed, and well-spoken. The type of woman that instantly appears as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Sybil is the type of character that is usually unassuming and often a victim of their circumstances. But not this Sybil.

Splitting into a few different lines of interest, Sybil is joined by her new boss Mr. Thomas who also has secrets of his own. There are rooms that Sybil is not allowed to open. As the two become a formal unit, both are impressed with each other’s skills in the morgue. Looking for love, Sybil begins obsessing about a man called Mark (Jay Taylor) whom she meets one day as she is strolling through a Roman funeral museum.

Broken Bird – Trailer

Mother of Movies recommends not watching the full official trailer, and rather watching the shortened version featured here on the website. The full trailer for Broken Bird is not spoiler-free and mentions many plot points that ruin the big reveal. So, if you are the type of cinephile who enjoys opening up a narrative with minimal information, watch the trailer here and then watch it for yourself.

In the trailer, Sybil is shown to be punching a corpse in the parlor of the funeral home as the widow stands nearby. Despite coming across as an almost plausible scene, the widow did not join in and Sybil didn’t punch the dead body. After a brief outburst from the widow about being glad her husband was dead, Sybil’s imagination shows us what could have happened if people just reacted to a situation instead of remaining dignified in grief.

A loner, Sybil is a frequent speaker at a local poetry reading. It’s during this time viewers are shown that Sybil has a nasty streak. In the face of competition, Sybil makes noise from her chair in the audience in a passive-aggressive attempt to diminish her popularity. In other moments fantasy scenarios are played out in a shocking succession that relays what Sybil is imagining.

Broken Bird Review – Mother of Movies

Broken Bird is intentionally disjointed. It’s what makes the film work as it gives a false impression of what Sybil is all about. Played by Rebecca Calder, she is the type of person who reminded me a little of the TV show Fleabag where the titular lead is played by its creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Here Calder pulls the strings of its viewers with perfected nuance.

It’s not all imagination and dreamlike visions, however. Broken Bird plays a game of cat and mouse with the sensibilities of its viewers. Straying from revealing the depths of Sybil’s depravity the narrative brings in Emma, a cop who is also suffering after the death of her son. Already a heavy burden, the body is missing, forcing Emma to resort to self-medicating, hitting the bottle whenever she can while investigators try to solve the mystery.

Bloodyflicks UK wrote a review about Broken Bird and thinks the title is reminiscent of another morgue horror, The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Read about that here. The Mother of Movies felt the story was more relative to titles like Stuffed or even Psycho. Join the conversation on our Facebook page and tell us what you think. Production Company Catalyst Studios.

Looking for another movie set in a morgue? Watch Play Dead or The Possession of Hannah Grace next.

About the Director

The feature directorial debut of Joanne Mitchell, Broken Bird is a film adaptation of her & Tracey Sheals’s 2018 award-winning short SYBIL, a screenplay by Dominic Brunt. The film encompasses themes of loneliness, loss, and grief as Sybll creates the life she imagined instead of the life she has.

Sybils Background

When Sybil was ten, a tragic accident caused the death of her family. Alone, Sybil takes up taxidermy and starts writing poetry and thinks she is good enough to join local groups and present her word on stage. Sybil is looking for eternal happiness and will do whatever she can to make it happen.

Starring Rebecca Calder (Kandahar/Memory), James Fleet (Four Weddings & a Funeral), Sacharissa Claxton (Avenue 5) and Jay Taylor (Misfits).

Overall, Broken Bird is bound to be the next underrated movie gem to obsess about. I recommend multiple viewings to gain more intel.

Broken Bird movie is rated

4 fragile princesses out of 5