Notable Cast: Briar Rose, Lydia Peckham, Katlyn Wong,
Joel Tobeck, Jonny Brugh, Rob Kipa-Williams, Bruce Hopkins, Bala Murali
Shingade, Beth Alexander, William Zhang
I’m a sucker for a good folk horror story. Throw in some
kind of ancient legend, told in rhyme and shown with stylized animation, and
put in a touch of body horror, and suddenly I’m doing a skip down the walk in
anticipation of seeing it. For The Burning of Broken Beak,
writer/director/editor/most everything under the sun Christian Carroll is
aiming for something of a modern folk horror tale and he manages to conjure up
something that feels like it owes its cornerstones to the folk horror of
yesteryears, but manages to modernize in a way that feels relevant and potent
for the last couple of years. While the film tends to play things slightly on
the safe side with its horror elements until its final act, spending much of
its runtime on a murder-mystery plot, it also packs an impactful amount of
dynamite into its final act, putting it above and beyond some of its indie
genre peers. And it certainly doesn’t feel bird-brained in the process.
Its central character, Emma, played by Briar Rose, returns
to New Zealand with her girlfriend from her life as a photographer in New York
to attend the reading of her adopted uncle’s will after he is horrifically
murdered. However, with a massive inheritance on the line, the family quickly
comes into odds with one another. It’s too bad, though, because their squabbles
have seemingly unleashed a curse upon the family of the old Māori legend of a
human-sized bird who was slaughtered when she stood up against colonists. Now
the family is being killed one by one, leaving Emma as the prime suspect.
Visions of Broken Beak haunt her, and Emma must uncover whether the curse is
real or if there’s more to her family than even she thought.
Replacing the usual old-time period settings of classic folk
horror with modern-day New Zealand, The Burning of Broken Beak aims not
only to update the genre but also to use the folk tale at the center of its
story as a launchpad to speak about modern-day issues. Instead of a village
with a religious zealot at its center, the film aims to criticize urban
expansion and billionaire CEOs as forms of modern colonization. Instead of a
giant bird as the folk story’s tragic central character, it's an alienated
young woman ostracized by her family and desperate to find her heritage and
place, while people strive to make her the monster. In this capacity, The
Burning of Broken Beak is impressive in its parallel writing and use of
folk horror as discussion of classicism, racism, and socio-political issues
around the environment. It’s smart modern folk horror at its heart.
Granted, The Burning of Broken Beak initially toys with those ideas. Its plot is very much centered around the mystery of a series of deaths. While the film does have Emma seeing the Broken Beak creature, which has an incredible design and is horrifying in its own right in how Carroll shoots those nightmarish sequences, the film initially focuses more on the murder-mystery plot.
Quite frankly, the film is well-executed and interesting
with this initial approach, but it’s the final 30 minutes that elevate it from
good to great. No spoilers here, but the way it ties its characters together
and fully interweaves the Broken Beak visions into low-key body horror through
Rose’s intense performance is vicious and punchy. The ending may leave some
reeling, but it’s the reason to go on the journey, so the characters,
narrative, and themes can really sink in.
There are too many modern horror movies that are afraid to
go folk themselves, but The Burning of Broken Beak manages to empower
the genre to parallel so many modern issues. It pops with its creature designs
and execution; there’s a fantastic body-horror element at play; it features a
few incredible performances anchored by Briar Rose; and it has plenty of style
to boot. If you love a good folk horror, especially one that is
navigating the bridge between urban and rural folk tales, then The Burning
of Broken Beak is one to hunt down.
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