MovieChat Forums > The Broken (2008) Discussion > My Theory of the Movie Plot

My Theory of the Movie Plot

posted 15 years ago by jchat72
5 replies | jump to latest

When I first watched this movie I was- like the rest of you- pretty disapointed with the ending. It seemed like nothing was explained, it didn't make any sense. I decided to go back and watch it meticulously to see if I had missed anything. I now have a theory of what the heck was going on.
When the movie begins with the birthday party noone was a duplicate. I believe the first smashed mirror let loose the alternate of the father. We're not supposed to understand how this is significant. However it happened in his home just like the appearances of the other duplicates happened in their homes. It's hard to connect the dots because the father isn't replaced until much later in the movie.
The daughter returns home and when she goes back to work her duplicate emerges from the smashed mirror. Next we see the daughter at work and becoming aware that her co-worker saw her duplicate. The duplicate had followed her to work and then left for no apparent reason.
The next scene shows the daughter in a phonebooth- I believe that from this point on we are following the role of the duplicate NOT the real daughter. She is calling her "boyfriend" but knows that he too has been replaced. When she sees the real daughter drive by she follows her to make her attack. If you watch the following scenes with this in mind- it can be interpreted that the duplicate is not actually scared but pursuing her victum. Also there is only one car and the duplicate steals it after she eliminates the real daughter. (Notice the liscense plate is a mirror image- Y38 BCY).
Next the duplicate is in a car accident. This leads to her loss of memory and essentially forgetting that it is her who is the duplicate. She now thinks that she is the REAL daughter.
To make a long story short (shorter)- the rest of the movie is all about the duplicate regaining her memory until the final moment when she gains total recall. At this point she remembers everything and realizes she is the duplicate. Her father has also been replaced at this point and she knows that too.
So that's my theory. Watch the movie with this in mind and it may make sense to you. There are many other clues throughout but I think I've already written enough! cheers

[–] stfa-1 15 years ago

That was my interpretation as well. Kinda like a Shyamalan-sque plot.

[–] jjreed 15 years ago

The first smashed mirror actually occurs at the very beginning of the film when Gina calls her boyfriend Stefan. Stefan is talking and a mirror breaks behind him. I believe he is a "duplicate" at the birthday party, which I'm still confused as to what happened when the mirror broke at the birthday party because the dad duplicate emerged at his work in that broken mirror.

[–] autumnboyq 14 years ago

That's what I thought too. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect, but it was spooky and kept me guessing, which is way more than you can say for a lot of horror/thrillers!

[–] reneholst 14 years ago

I couldn't have said it better. That's my theory as well.

[–] catlebrity 14 years ago

I think this is all correct, except for the father. His doppelganger comes out of the broken mirror at work, and is waiting for him in the bathroom stall, but doesn't get a chance to kill/replace him until later because the janitor comes in.

Also, it's clear that this is also happening outside the family/people at the party. First there's the mirror image x-ray; the doppelganger dog killing the original dog; the woman on the train who yells "he's one" (ie, he's one of the doppelgangers) at the guy on the train -- she doesn't know if Gina is one or not, because at that point Gina doesn't know.

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