Broken Innocence

Chase Dudley continues to show time and time again that he is a force to be reckoned with in the Indie film world and "Broken Innocence" is no exception. Once again Dudley breaks away from being stuck to one genre with a surprisingly deep and emotional script.

From "killer" cinematography by Brandon Benz along with breakout performances from Arianna Harris and. Paul T. Taylor, your eyes will be glued to the screen the entire time. It's no wonder that Broken Innocence has been sweeping film festivals all across the country winning award after award. This is a dark subject matter that Harris handles surprisingly maturely with a presence on screen well above her years. A low-budget drama turned slasher that takes advantage of every penny. I'd highly recommend checking it out! There's a reason Chase has consistent backers when he launches campaigns for his new movies.

Living in a tragic family life, a woman tries to deal with the abusive situation surrounding her parents that leaves her feeling abandoned and neglected which causes her to lash out at others leading to the realization that she can get away with murder and setting her off on a killing spree.

This was a massively underwhelming effort. Among its main problems is the way everything is just so disconnected and scattershot with the way it approaches the family dynamic. As it's supposed to be a continuous build-up of events over time leading to the snap and eventual realization of everything coming together to explain how it all leads to the killing spree, instead we're just dropped into the family dynamic with no build-up, no context, and little reason to care as a result. All we get is an angsty daughter snapping at everyone around her for the most indiscriminate means, a well-meaning mother who instead acts like a pushover due to the standoffish nature she portrays trying to keep the peace, and a father with an obviously secretive lustful desire to the daughter that strains the relationship with his wife. This works fine at establishing the motive later on as we get the backstory explaining everything about why she's distrustful of everyone and why she snaps the way she does, but it comes after the point we've lost interest in that due to the way we get dropped into a situation with unlikable people. That leads to the other big problem where it's just dragged out way too long for its own good with incidental elements that don't feel needed or necessary to the story. The endless therapy sessions that crop up without doing much of anything important in them, the mind-numbing hangouts with the daughter's best friend that don't really amount to much of anything about her, and the focus on trying to establish how the parents' needs are the main focus is on them rather than the daughter which is arguably far more important and intriguing. This causes the film to be far longer than it should be with the rampage coming across so late into the movie it's quite easy to forget what type of film it really is. As well as the other features involving the quest to seduce the handyman or trying to lean into his obsessive desires about his daughter drag this one out past the point of mattering about its positives. That doesn't distinguish from the fact that those positives are quite enjoyable. The more we learn about the true nature of what's going on with her damaged past serving as a fine prelude for the mind games she plays with everyone as what happened to her is a genuinely traumatic and disturbing incident that explains the behavior displayed completely. That she goes through such a convoluted and unhinged game makes all the more sense because of how she came to be from these incidents that lead to a scheme of a manipulative figure looking to strike back at those around her which includes the occasional murder attempt which are quite gruesome and bloody when they strike out of nowhere. Hence, the shock of it all comes together quite nicely. The frenzied and chaotic finale where the broken and shattered remains of what's happened to the both of them leaves this with some fun stalking and confrontations in play while also bringing about a logical way to wrap everything together so that the trauma of everything is handled rather well so it has some positive points about it. Overall, these manage to provide some enjoyable factors.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Violence, and intense themes of child sexual abuse.

How this movie scored so many high reviews is beyond me. It's one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life and I've seen a lot! It's very clearly low budget, which isn't a problem as I've watched a few low budget movies and a lot of them have been good, but this is bad because it's all over the place, the acting is absolutely horrendous. I cringed many times. It covers a very sensitive topic and thankfully doesn't show too much. But that's the only thing they got right in my opinion. The sound is also not great quality. I didn't choose to watch this movie, it came on automatically after a movie I was watching ended. I wouldn't have chosen to watch it, but I gave it a chance. I was that surprised it had so many good reviews that I had to double check I was on the right imdb page for the right movie. That says it all really.

Some topics are hard to tastefully tackle, especially in the realm of the "thriller," or, "horror" movie genres. Broken Innocence manages to handle the subject of incest and sexual abuse in a respectful manner by not pushing the envelope in showing the abuse, opting to have the actor's and the dialog they share and the tension built between the members of the family. Broken Innocence, written by Charlie Bradley and directed by Chase Dudley focuses on the abuse of Lily at the hands of her father and the turmoil it causes not only within the family, but within herself.

While the premise is a strong one and for the most part, the film is decent enough, there are a few problems. The dialog feels stilted at points and delivered with varying degrees of quality from the cast. While at times, the film can feel like a first draft of something that could have been a much more fleshed out narrative, there are moments where it really sticks out and leaves a lasting impression.

The first and foremost thing that stands out in the forefront is the fact that the film breaks the trope of the cycle of abuse being passed from the parents to the child in terms of the mother. The film sets up a situation where the mother could continue the abuse by taking advantage of a minor, but decides to not be like her husband and father. This is a great swerve from the traditional crutch of, "I was abused, now I will become an abuser." The second instance comes around the ¾ mark. Lily, having just murdered her mother's psychiatrist, delivers a powerful monologue about why she is who she is and the stifling despair that comes with the territory of being a survivor of abuse.

There is nothing in this film that is going to change the way you view cinema from this point forward, but it does manage to leave you thinking and has scenes that will stick with you for days after.

Broken Innocence is a very solid viewing experience at the end of the day, just something that most viewers may not revisit due to the subject matter. The film has a strong message, even if at times, it struggles to find its voice.

1. The scene at the very beginning where Lilly is sitting outside the ambulance and the emergency vehicle lights are flashing on her... reminded me of the part in Fatal Attraction where Glenn Close is sitting in the dark and she's clicking the lamp light on and off. Fantastic imagery.

2. The "127 times" part with Lilly on the couch is absolutely heartbreaking. She made me feel it.

3. The end with Lilly & her mother telling her she's gonna do what she's never done before... what a mother is supposed to do for her children. Nail on the head!

This film isn't perfect by any means, but just these three parts made it worth watching, in my opinion.