Broken English (2025 film)
| Broken English | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Iain Forsyth Jane Pollard |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | Beth Earl |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Daniel Landin |
| Edited by | Luke Clayton Thompson |
| Music by | Rob Ellis Adrian Utley |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Vue Lumière |
Release dates |
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Running time | 99 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Broken English is a 2025 British documentary film written and directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. It's an exploration of the life and career of English singer and actress Marianne Faithfull, who died 30th January 2025.
The film had its world premiere out of the competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, on 30 August 2025. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom by Vue Lumière on 20 March 2026.
Production
Forsyth and Pollard approached Faithfull and started working on the project in 2021.[2] The film includes Faithfull's last ever singing performance, together with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.[2][3] Actors Tilda Swinton and George MacKay play two fictional characters, while interwees include John Dunbar, Edith Bowman, Sophie Fiennes and Barry Reynolds.[2][4][5]
The film was produced by Rustic Canyon Pictures and Phantoscopic.[4] Several scenes, including those featuring Marianne Faithfull, were filmed at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.[6]
Release
The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival.[4] It was later screened at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.[3] It had its domestic premiere at the 2025 BFI London Film Festival.[7] The film was released in the United Kingdom on 20 March 2026, by Vue Lumière.[8]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 17 critics' reviews are positive.[9]
Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a fittingly weird and wacky portrait of a woman whose career was full of swerves and swoops", with "the scripted sections" that "don't always mesh effectively with the more spontaneous, doc-style interludes, but they serve to clarify the timelines and relationships and add editorial gloss".[10] Deadline's film critic Damon Wise called the film a "witty, provocative, and playfully post-modern docu-bio" and a "moving tribute".[6] The Guardian's Xan Brooks was less positive, calling the film "flawed but ardent", and noting "Forsyth and Pollard’s main conceit feels jerry-rigged and overdramatised to the point where it risks obscuring our view of the woman herself".[11]
References
- ^ "Broken English (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 6 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ a b c Lodderhose, Diana (29 August 2025). "Tilda Swinton, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard Lift Lid On Marianne Faithfull Hybrid Doc 'Broken English': "She Was Lucid And Funny And Fierce Right Up Until The End" – Venice". Deadline. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ a b Ide, Wendy (30 August 2025). "'Broken English' review: Marianne Faithfull's life explored in inventive documentary with starry cast". Screen international. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ a b c Lumholdt, Jan (30 August 2025). "Review: Broken English". Cineuropa. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Lodge, Guy (30 August 2025). "'Broken English' Review: An Adoring Hybrid Ode to Marianne Faithfull That Gives Her the Last Salty Word". Variety. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ a b Wise, Damon (30 August 2025). "'Broken English' Review: Marianne Faithfull Confronts Her Mortality And Her Myth In A Moving Tribute – Venice Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Cunningham, Nick (10 October 2025). "Broken English sold to VUE LUMIÈRE ahead of UK prem in London". Business Doc Europe. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Dalton, Ben (9 March 2026). "UK-Ireland film cinema release dates: latest updates for 2026". Screen Daily. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "Broken English". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
- ^ Felperin, Leslie (31 August 2025). "'Broken English' Review: An Imaginative, Fittingly Eccentric Documentary Pays Starry Tribute to Marianne Faithfull". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
- ^ Brooks, Xan (31 August 2025). "Broken English review – Marianne Faithfull's last glow, as she recounts past lives". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2026.