Broken Dreams



Dr. Christina Henning is living the dream. She’s got a thriving and prestigious career, a beautiful house, a loving husband and a brand new baby girl. It’s the kind of life that many would consider to be picture perfect. But everything isn’t as flawless as it seems in Christina’s world, and as we see snags slowly begin to be introduced into Christina’s idyllic vision of existence the truth surrounding her real life is slowly revealed.



I’ve had this little German short buried somewhere in my watch-list for quite a while now, and figured it would be a good idea to finally watch it before it inevitably disappeared into the miasma that is the internet streaming ether… Actually, considering it’s been over five years since it’s come out at this point, I’m kinda surprised it’s even still available to watch. But I digress… Point is, it’s been taunting me for way too long and it’s fairly highly rated, so let’s finally get to it…



Broken Dreams is listed on IMDB as a “thriller”, but I think it might be better described as a psychological drama, and at around 30 minutes it’s actually leaning towards the longer end of what some might consider your typical runtime for a short. Which can either be a good or bad thing, depending on how compact you prefer your short films. But Broken Dreams uses its runtime wisely and moves at a pretty good pace, so it doesn’t feel nearly as long as that 30 minutes may suggest. The only “downtime” that isn’t taken up by the story proper are the end credits and some portions of the opening credits, but story portions are even interwoven throughout that latter segment, meaning the film actually contains very little in the way of “filler”. In fact, the plot is so carefully thought out that several images seen at the beginning of the film are actually hints that get brought back to explain portions towards the end of the film, as a way to “bookend” the story. So while there may still be some questions left in the viewer’s mind by the time the film is over, you can tell that those questions are wholly intentional and meant to make you ponder, not annoying plot holes that popped up because of too many rewrites or poorly written characters making very questionable decisions. So that’s nice.



The acting on display is good for the story that’s presented. It’s probably not going to be something that’ll knock your socks off or anything, but it more than adequately gets the job done. And several of the actors should be commended for so easily switching between the various personas necessary for the film as Christina slowly comes to grips with her own reality. You really need to have a range to do that and I think Simson Bubbel and Thenuka Kantharajah did a very good job at hitting their respective marks.



The film’s one downside is that it’s quite clear that the movie was made on a budget. Which shouldn’t be surprising, honestly. I mean, the vast majority of shorts are typically done on the cheap. It’s just that in this instance it’s kind of noticeable in a couple parts. Mostly it’s small things, like the framing could have been better here, or the lighting not being the best there. That kind of stuff. But it’s also particularly noticeable at the beginning when you’re supposed to see Christina’s “perfect” life. The film’s description talks about her “palatial” house, but when you actually get inside of it you notice that the walls are mostly bare, what decorations you do see look cheap, and what little furniture you see looks like it was picked up at a thrift store. Which is all stuff that works out fine for the later scenes, but if they really wanted to sell the illusion of a prestigious home it would have been nice if they could have borrowed some fancier things for those early scenes so they could really “sell” the con, you know? But that’s all right. I get it. You’ve gotta work with what you have, and the lack of fancy junk doesn’t really impact the story at all. It’s just a little background tick that would have been nice if they could have included it.



Overall though, Broken Dreams is a very good short. Not necessarily a happy one, which I feel is important to mention, as it actually ends on a rather sad note. But it’s not necessarily a depressing one, either. It’s just a good one, the kind that lives up to its title by making you question your choices while also showing how easy it is sometimes to lose sight of what you may have really wanted in life. It’s meant to be reflective, I guess. So if that’s the kind of film you gravitate towards, then Broken Dreams may be right up your alley.

Broken Dreams is available to rent or buy on Amazon.

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