The Break-In Breaks Out

SLIFF Exclusive

Filmizon’s Nikolai Adams with The Break-In writer/director Marcus Ovnell (left) and actress Jenny Lampa (right)

As I sat in the dark theatre waiting for the projector to light up the New York State premiere of The Break-In, a Swedish film written and directed by Marcus Ovnell, I had two things running through my mind . . . and both related to my high hopes for the film. The first was that I had attended a panel discussion featuring Ovnell and Nathan Jacobs (writer/director of Killing Poe) on the continuing influence of Edgar Allen Poe on the world of film. The panel provided a nuanced discussion on the two movies (while also making sure to provide no spoilers of the upcoming showing of either film) and being that I am a gargantuan Poe fan, this had me enthused for the premiere. The second was that I have yet to see a poor film or television show come out of Scandinavia over the past several years (whether it is the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, Jo Nesbo’s Headhunters or television series such as Wallander and Borgen, to name of few).

When the projector did fire up, the cozily packed theatre was treated to a tense three part film that opens with the middle chapter. We are almost immediately placed in a situation where we realize that the relationship between our married couple (played by Jenny Lampa and Lukas Loughran) is on the rocks. The camera takes its time to show us their faces, providing a feeling of disconnect with the audience (much like the man and woman are feeling). When we are placed at the dinner table with them, their discussion is so frank, painful and real, it is unnerving. It is reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman’s iconic tv series/movie Scenes From a Marriage. As you can probably guess, as the film is called ‘The Break-In’, someone breaks in. The husband kills the intruder which forces the couple to work together to hide the body.

We then flash back to the opening chapter where we are provided with important details of the couple’s back story and the interesting and nuanced details of the thief’s relationship to the two people.

As we jump forward to the third act, we see the couple struggle with everything, from their own twistingly complex sexual feelings to the grief and guilt they both feel. Things bubble until we are led to a very satisfying conclusion.

The best way to describe this film is a slow burner that really never allows the audience to settle down – we are tense and nervous in our seats from beginning to end. Every piece of the film melds together in such a perfect way to create this eerie, emotional atmosphere. The acting is superb, with Jenny Lampa, Lukas Loughran and Richard Ulfsäter providing performances that are nothing short of stunning. The emotion that we see on their faces and hear in their voices is frighteningly real.

The editing, cinematography and direction is also exquisite. Filmed in a very traditional style with the camera rarely moving, it feels like we are watching an amazing amalgam of Hitchcock and De Palma at their best. The dream sequence is especially reminiscent of a De Palma high point. The lighting of every moment of the film, including the standout basement scenes, sticks with you long after the film has ended. Yet it is so difficult to pick one standout moment, as there are so many – from the creeping paranoia of ‘the woman’ as she puts up sheets to cover the windows, to a man in a hood on a rainy day delivering roses (providing a sense of the impending doom of death a.k.a. the Grim Reaper closing in on the couple) – each moment adding to the intricacies of the tale. The story, also written by Ovnell, is brilliant – always feeling real and never falling into parody, silliness or trying to push for cheap thrills. The mood can be somewhat compared to that of Stoker, though they are quite different films, and being that that is one of my favourite movies of the past five years, it is high praise indeed for Ovnell’s The Break-In.

To quickly return to Poe, this journey will likely remind us of A Tell-Tale Heart. It was rather interesting to hear that this film was actually conceived from what Ovnell and Lampa (a married couple) believed to be a real life break-in – it ended up being a potted plant that had cracked due to growing roots sounding like a window breaking. It is amazing to think of how one ordinary yet bizarre event such as this could spawn a movie that is so rich in texture and feeling. My prediction is that The Break-In should be the break-out film in North America for Ovnell, Jenny Lampa and the rest of the cast.