Breaking, review
Breaking
UK release: 27 March 2023
Director: Abi Damaris Corbin
Starring: John Boyega, Micheal K. Williams, Nicole BeharieMichael K. Williams
Review by Jack Hewitt
“The thing that everyone remembered about the man in the light grey sweatshirt was how composed he was, how polite and respectful. One morning this past summer, he quietly entered a Wells Fargo bank branch in the Atlanta suburbs in a desperate state. But he didn’t curse or even raise his voice. He just calmly relayed the litany of setbacks and obstacles that had led him to an extraordinarily reckless act.”
This excerpt from Aaron Gell’s Task and Purpose article They Didn’t Have to Kill Him: The Death of Lance Corporal Brian Easley, was the inspiration that led to Abi Damaris Corbin’s Breaking (2022). It tells the story of Easley, a decorated marine corps veteran who, upon facing homelessness due to veteran affairs mismanagement, threatens to blow up a Wells Fargo bank as he pleads for recognition of his struggle throughout. Corbin said, “I read the article when it came out in 2019, and my heart was broken open that this man who so desperately wanted to be heard still really wasn't. Beyond that, my dad's a vet, so I recognised a lot of my dad's struggles with the VA in Brian's.”
British presence is felt in the lead John Boyega (Star Wars, The Woman King), embodying the same warmth, earnestness and respect that saturates the unconventional robbery, co-written by director, actor, writer and artistic director of the Young Vic, Kwame Kwei-Armah. Throughout the crime, Easley pleads for attention and recognition of his struggle; “What do I need to do to get the attention I need right now?”. Boyega manages to consistently illustrate Easley’s frustrations while maintaining his compassion and desperation amid powerlessness, which is humanised through Boyega’s relatable and fierce on-screen presence. This performance is parried well by the recently and dearly departed five-time Emmy-nominee, Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire), who plays the enigmatic police negotiator.
Boyega’s research involved meeting Easley’s ex-wife Jessica to learn about who Brian Easley was. Boyega observed, “it's the accuracy for me of the struggles, and it's taking in all the complications that made Brian Brian. In this moment, it’s the PTSD on one side, the financial issues, the job issues, finding work. So for me, it was all about the accuracy of what he was suffering and then the accuracy of his human side too, making sure that he's not just defined by his actions.”
In Damaris Corbin’s feature-length debut, she emphasises an awareness of the interiority of the Atlanta suburbs, Wells Fargo, that underscores the tension of the area. Damaris Corbin’s understanding of the landscape using the cold, blue, tree-lined concrete walls inside of the bank juxtaposed with the warm, brilliant colours on the outside suggests a potential freedom for Easley that will never arrive. Moreover, Damaris Corbin frames Breaking as an edge-of-your-seat thriller, brimming with moody, police procedural cinematography and a tense, humming score that unfortunately gets weighed down by all of these typical and predictable narrative tropes. The result of this becomes a handicap to the sincerity of the storytelling and themes.
However, those who have read They Didn’t Have to Kill Him: The Death of Lance Corporal Brian Easley will undoubtedly understand Breaking as a tragedy. An illustration of the failures of the American government system and a clear example of the understanding of how African Americans are treated within said system.
Breaking is a tragedy that often focuses on the written word. The honesty and transparency find their loudest junctions amidst the interactions with language. A text message shared between hostages or Easley verbalising his threat on pen and paper encourages us to keep reading between the lines and understanding what people are actually trying to do and say.