Broken

"Skunk" (Eloise Laurence/Lily James) lives with her dad "Archie" (Tim Roth) and older brother in what can only be described as the suburban cul-de-sac from hell. Indeed, our own introduction to their street sees neighbour "Bob" (Rory Kinnear) beat up "Rick" (Robert Emms) because he thinks this lad is some kind of pervert. As the story unravels, we realise that "Skunk" has a crush on her hunky schoolmaster "Mr. Kiernan" (Cillian Murphy) who in turn has a bit of a crush on "Kasia" (Zan Marjanovic). The toxicity of this small community is further augmented by an odious young bully and just goes to show how much damage lies can do when unchallenged or supported by societal assumptions. The timelines flash about the place a bit, so you need to concentrate as the threads begin to inter-twine, but as they do we are presented with a really strong performance from the young Laurence and a couple of sparing, but quite potent, efforts from both Kinnear and Emms - whose character assumes greater importance as this drama evolves. It's not an easy watch, and though not overly graphic it still hits the ground running and sustains a steady pace as these increasingly volatile characters struggle to find some sort of peace. True, maybe some of the plot-lines are a touch far-fetched and overly contrived to heighten the drama, but it's still well worth a watch as a glimpse of dysfunctional family life where emotions run high.