Breaking In | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I saw this on bank holiday Monday, and I have to admit that I didn't have particularly high hopes for it. Not because I thought it would be bad, but I thought that the lack of promotion that I saw for it (maybe 2 TV adverts over the whole promo run) suggested the quality of the film - so I definitely went in with low expectations.

It's about a woman called Shaun Russell who, along with her son and daughter, goes to stay for the weekend in her late father's vacation home, a home that she spent time in as a child. However, on their first night in the technologically advanced home, four men break in, looking for a hidden safe with 4 million dollars inside. With Shaun on the outside and her kids on the inside with these assailants, she has to figure out a way to break in - before she loses everything that matters to her.

As I said, I didn't expect to like this film, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that it was actually a really interesting film, with a great plot and great acting. I really enjoyed it.

First of all, the idea of having to break into one's own childhood home is one that hasn't been explored in many films, so it was interesting to see main character Shaun's relationship with that house while she was breaking into it. In fact, the house became a character in itself, which was particularly interesting to watch.

At this time when everyone seems to be crying out for strong female characters, this story definitely has that. Not only is Shaun an extremely physically strong and emotionally smart character while outside the house, but her daughter Jasmine is extremely emotionally strong and smart while inside the house, managing to take care of her younger brother while also evading these assailants, and is a main part of the reason that it ends the way it does.

And then there's the assailants themselves. These characters were amazing. Usually when you have a simple good vs evil story, the evil side of the story is underdeveloped and isn't as important as the good side. But each of the assailants (particularly the main three) are so layered and complicated, and their personalities are written and portrayed extremely well. In fact, it could be argued that these characters showed more of their personalities than Shaun and her children, who were scared and just wanted to find each other. They all had the same motivations, but they were willing to do extremely different things to get there, and this is what makes this film stand out.

However, there were some negative aspects of the film. For a start, Shaun's husband. I won't spoil it, but in the showing of the movie that I went to, every time this man came onto the screen, people were talking loudly to each other and laughing at him. He was the character that the audience watching bonded over, and not in a good way!

And then there was a completely unexplored sub-plot. We as the audience have been told multiple times that the relationship between Shaun and her father is extremely negative, and that he might have made her take the fall for something illegal. But I've seen the film, and I could not tell you what happened between them, which is something that really should have been explored.

Overall, this is an exciting, popcorn-munching flick, and you should definitely go and see it, if just for escapism and a good story than anything else.

Lou