Broken in all the right places
Spoiler warning ahead. Proceed only if you've already watched—or don't mind being broken wide open.
A title lost in translation
There’s something quietly frustrating about mismatched titles. The Korean name for this film, 브로큰 (beurokeun)—Broken—says everything it needs to. It’s raw. It’s thematic. It’s accurate.
And then came Nocturnal. Elegant, perhaps, even poetic. But Nocturnal is the name of a novel within the story, not the story itself. A choice that, while likely made for international appeal, ends up setting the wrong tone and wrong expectations.
If you go in expecting a moody thriller about late-night brooding, you’ll come out thinking the third act forgot to arrive. If they had kept the English title as Broken, the story, pacing, and ending would’ve made more sense.
Acting and atmosphere
For what it is—a revenge thriller—the film delivers. Solid performances all around, led by an actor who wears his role like it’s grown into his bones—a notorious gangster who had already left that life behind but is forced to return after the death of his younger brother.
It gives off the same energy as John Wick—feared, respected, tried to live a normal life, but got dragged back in. Except instead of a dog, it was his sibling.
The cinematography fits the tone: mysterious, crime, gritty, and fitting for a revenge plot. No complaints there.
Final thoughts
When mislabeling ruins the mood
The tragedy here isn’t just in the story—it’s in the mismatch between title and tone. International viewers might be left confused by the final scene. There is a sense of something settling, but it’s jagged and unsatisfying—because it was never meant to be about closure. It was about being Broken.
If they had just stuck with Broken, the pieces would’ve come together. Instead, we’re left with a film that feels unfinished, incomplete—not by design, but by branding.
Rating: 5 out of 10 stars (8 if you pretend the title was Broken all along)
