The Broken Legacy
I’m not going to lie- this movie had me for much of its running time. And then, at the end, there’s a revelation that kind of throws what the movie has been up to that point out of whack, and, damn does it not work. I’m not going to spoil it for you, because honestly, the movie is still well worth watching up until that point, but man, does it become something else entirely with that ending, and it’s not necessarily good.
The film begins with six people signing up for a 30-day drug trial. We have Steven (Michael Stahler), a screenwriter; Jacob (Oren Dayan), a minister-in-training; Emily (Rayne Bidder), who just got kicked out of her apartment; Liz (Justine Herron), who just needs the money; Jenny (Cynthia Bravo), who doesn’t know how she’ll survive without the internet; and Tomas (Marcos Esteves), who is into philosophy. The drug is for cholesterol, and the money is decent. They are to have no interaction with the outside world, and no intimate relations with other members of the study. That’s a bit difficult for Steven, though, who is immediately struck by Emily, and likes her. Tomas recognizes Steven’s interest, and the two work out an arrangement where Tomas will help Steven get Emily, and Steven and Tomas work on a screenplay. Both are bids towards immortality, as the romantic Tomas pitches it to Steven.
Writer-director Miguel Garzon Martinez has a terrific hook for drama here, and he finds a lot of interesting angles to approach it from. If the movie had just had Steven, Jacob and Tomas and that dynamic to explore- all three individuals who search for larger meanings in life through specific spiritual and creative mediums and ideas- that would have been fascinating, in and of itself. I like the pull Steven feels from both directions in the scenes with them in their room, and with the way the story goes, is compelling enough for a story with a central theme about the nature of immortality, and how we achieve it. Jacob and Tomas have different vantage points on the matter, and Steven- the screenwriter- finds himself in the middle as he has his own little drama playing out in these 30 days. Watching the dynamics between the characters shift as the story moves along is engaging, and I like the way Martinez structures the film to show us the best, and worst, of all of them. When it focuses on Steven, and the divergent lives and philosophies he comes in contact with in this group, “The Broken Legacy” is far from broken.
At the end of the film, we get a twist that would make this a completely different movie. It makes sense given the story, but it throws the focus of the film at the last minute, even if it does play into the character dynamics we’ve seen emerge by the end. I didn’t like it, and it ends the movie on a different note than you expect up until that point. It’s interesting that I was reminded of two recent films I’ve seen as I watched this one unfold- one is Pixar’s “Coco,” which shares themes of legacy and what we leave for people, and the other is “Downsizing,” which also has the personal focus of the film thrown for a loop by larger ideas. “The Broken Legacy” doesn’t fly off the rails like “Downsizing” did, though, even if I’m not a fan of what it does, but it also carries the emotional weight it develops better than that film did, which is why I have no problem recommending it, on the whole. If you’ve found yourself searching for meaning in life, and exploring what it might mean for other people, “The Broken Legacy” is well worth your time.
