Opening London’s FrightFest later this week is the World Premiere of gothic horror Broken Bird from Catalyst Studios, and we’ve got an exclusive trailer drop for you today to get you ready for a night in the morgue.
The directorial debut of Joanna Mitchell, Broken Bird is a feature adaptation of her and Tracey Sheals's 2018 award-winning short Sybil, with a screenplay by Dominic Brunt (Wolf Manor).
Starring Rebecca Calder (Altar), James Fleet (Bridgerton), Jay Taylor (Donkey Punch) and Sacharissa Claxton (The Sandman), Broken Bird will be released in UK cinemas from August 30.
In Broken Bird:
This rich, disturbing tale steps into the life and mind of Sybil Chamberlain. Sybil is a quiet, creative soul. Her hobbies are taxidermy and poetry. She works in a funeral parlor with the deceased. She likes dead people. They understand her.
At just ten years old, she experienced trauma in a tragic accident which took away the family she adored. Now, an aching loneliness prevails in a void which she seeks to fill. But poetry and a vivid imagination provide an escape from the harsh realities of a lonely life.
Reality and reason are slipping away from Sybil and her ‘dark desires’ become more and more insatiable. Her fascination with the dead takes a dark and strange twist. And in a horrific climax of gothic proportions, she finds her own kind of happiness and contentment with the people she keeps as company – dead people.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood News, director Mitchell expanded on her inspirations behind the female-focused and gloriously subversive tale:
I felt it was a story that I hadn’t necessarily seen, although I’m sure there’s films out there about mortuary workers falling in love with dead people, of course there are, but I wanted to see it entirely from a female perspective. I didn’t want her to be the stereotypical female, you know, falling in love with people, needing someone and being weak. I wanted her to be complicated, dark, funny, strange and nuanced, and I think that’s exactly what Rebecca Calder brought to the part.
I wanted something a bit different, but I also wanted the audience to be taken on her journey and to really immerse themselves in her character, but also to question themselves whether they liked or all didn’t like her, because what she does is horrific and terrible but there’s some sympathy and vulnerability to her as well through her past. I thought it was really important that everything that she did, what you see on the screen is based in truth and there is a reason for it.
If you’re heading to FrightFest later this week, don’t miss Broken Bird playing the Main Screen on Thursday, August 22, and catch it in theaters from August 30.
Enjoy our exclusive trailer today and we'll see you in the funeral parlour…
