Broken (2012 film)

Broken is a 2012 British coming-of-age, drama film directed by Rufus Norris starring Eloise Laurence and Tim Roth. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012. It is based on the 2008 novel of the same name written by Daniel Clay, which was partly inspired by Harper Lee's 1960 novel "To Kill a Mockingbird".
Plot.
Eleven-year-old diabetic Emily 'Skunk' Cunningham lives with her solicitor father Archie, her elder brother Jed, and au pair Kasia on a cul-de-sac in a British suburb. One of her few friends is Rick, a slightly simple young man living with his parents in a nearby house.
Skunk is shocked when Rick gets beaten up by single-father Mr. Oswald, another neighbour: one of three of his daughters has falsely accused Rick of rape. He is released when she is proven a liar, but he closes himself off. From then on Skunk's life goes downhill.
Kasia splits up with her boyfriend Mike, who is also Skunk's favourite teacher. Rick is put into a mental ward as he isolates himself more and more. Archie and Kasia are beginning a relationship, a shock to both Mike and Skunk. Oswald's daughters start bullying Skunk when the new term starts. Her first boyfriend suddenly has to move away, and does not tell her until the day before he leaves.
One of Oswald's daughters gets pregnant by one of her many sexual partners, panics, and falsely accuses Mike. Oswald barges into Skunk's classroom and beats Mike. While Oswald is in jail, Archie provides legal services to Mike, and the three daughters throw a drunken party. The pregnant daughter miscarries, then dies, leading to Oswald's release.
Skunk secretly visits Rick when he has his first weekend at home. When she enters the house, she finds that Rick has accidentally broken his mother's neck, pushing her down the stairs, then panicked and knocked out his father. He won't let Skunk leave and does not realise Skunk's diabetes takes her into a hypoglycemic coma. Oswald finds Skunk, and a dead Rick (suicide), and gets her to hospital.
In a dream sequence, Skunk bids farewell to people from her childhood, including the recently dead, then sees her grown self, holding her baby. She wakes up in the hospital, with her father at her side.
Cast.
In addition, Oswald's three daughters, whose chavish behaviour precipitates many of the negative outcomes, are played by Martha Bryant (as Sunrise, the youngest), Faye Daveney (as Saskia, the oldest) and Rosalie Kosky-Hensman (as Susan, the pregnant).
Reception.
Accolades.
"Broken" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2012. It won Grand Prix of Odessa International Film Festival in 2012. The film received the Golden Eye Award for best international film on the Zurich Film Festival. It also won The British Independent Film Awards 2012 for Best British Independent Film.
Critical reception.
The film received mixed to positive reviews by critics. It holds a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 50 reviews and reports a rating average of 6.0 out of 10.