The Break

Series 3, episode 1.

As someone who was unfortunate to know Sophie Wu at school, I can confirm this "autobiographical" piece of work is total rubbish. Sophie herself tormented several people at the school she was allegedly expelled from and continued to do the same at her new one. Not only that, she hasn't even bothered to change the surname of one of the characters, something she could easily get sued for.

Sophie was, however, exactly the same as Franny Wong in the sense that she was a creepy try-hard with no self-awareness, who took no responsibility for anything she said or did. I'm amazed BBC3 even commissioned this, to be honest.

Aside from it's obvious "goofs", (S2 Ep8) the wire on the razor miraculously working out in the middle of nowhere. And the shows less than accurate Second Audio/Translation. It is a descent "Detective/Thiller". While I can appreciate a good "foreign" film, so having this have Secondary Audio (voice over), it's good to be able to watch the programmes that offer it. It also allows you to watch/enjoy these other shows, and still let that part of your brain relax after a long day/week........ Enjoy!!!!

The actors and performances are fine, but the constant ugly scenarios are too distasteful and disturbing. If you enjoy dark, dreary, unhappy, perverse, then go for it, but I don't want this trash in my head...and wish I hadn't watched it.

Watched the first season and hoped that things would improve with the second. This did not happen. The plot for the second season was equally as stupid as for the first. The premise that the writers seem to work with is to put as many "red herrings" in front of the viewer, subplot after subplot, and hope that the viewer will become so intrigued by this "cleverness" that they will continue to watch. In reality, with so much irrelevant stuff going on, there is ultimately a lack of continuity with the main story, and viewers lose interest because of the confusion and chaos created.

The camera work and and editing leave much to be desired. The practice common in many Francophone films of intense close ups of lips, eyes, mouths, teeth, and faces is common throughout each episode. In this series, the back of the head of the lead actor seems to have been the focal point of interest and the viewer gets many views of this in about 80% of the scenes. There is bizarre editing where a scene suddenly ends at a juncture that requires an explanation, but the episode continues as if the event never occurred and the viewer is expected to not question or wonder about it. This leads to an inability to take the series seriously. Overall, a poor production with a bad script and terrible acting.