’Broil’ Review: Dir. Edward Drake [FrightFest Halloween 2020]

The basic plot of Broil follows teenager Chance Sinclair (Avery Konrad) as she is shipped off to her grandfather’s house. The Sinclair’s are a pretty big deal, and what Chance doesn’t know yet is that they are vampires. Her parents have kept the secret from her for years, but after deciding that they want to leave the family business, they find the only way to do that is to relinquish Chance into the patriarch’s care. A year later, Chance’s parents return for an extravagant meal called ‘The Harvest’ with a young chef, Sydney (Jonathan Lipnicki), in tow. Sydney is actually a hitman specialising in poisons, and he has been hired to take down the Sinclair elder. Things don’t quite go as expected however, and plans unravel. 

I say that this is the basic plot as what follows after, and happens in between, is something that I’m still trying to process a number of days later. You’ll need a Phd in following confusing plots to be able to follow Broil effectively. There are so many different plot strands that constantly pop up, it’s far too difficult to keep track of them all. These strands also randomly appear midway through various scenes and take the film in a completely different direction, before snapping back to the initial point. Confusing and muddled doesn’t begin to cover it. The story jumps around in timelines, dimensions, characters – one minute you’re with Chance and she’s obviously our lead, the next you’re with Sydney ‘The Chef, everything seemingly rewritten to make him the lead. Honestly, trying to follow this film will cause massive headaches. 

Not only is the plot confusing, the tone and style are too. Tonally the film flickers from Twilight angst to Ready or Not humour, to The Irishman seriousness. The only consistent level of tone is that Broil comes off as being moody. Not moody and atmospheric as one would hope, but moody in a sulky sullen teenager kind of way. It’s almost as if the film itself is frustrated with its own internal conflict and is throwing a mini tantrum about it. Films shouldn’t have to fit neatly into boxes, but the apparent decision to try and blend a young adult teen fantasy with an assassin memoir within a power hungry family drama, just does not work. 

There are occasional interesting visual techniques employed, but a lot of them feel ripped from something else. For instance, we get several sequences showing Sydney’s culinary skills that are filmed in the same fetishistic way that worked so well in the Hannibal television series. Here though, several of the montages do not feature the same high standard of dishes, with pizza being the main food showcased. 

The sound mix is also an odd one. For some reason, the background score spends most of the time in the foreground, challenging the  on-screen dialogue. It’s a strange thing to happen, and one that would have hopefully been fixed in post, and yet I have seen several reviews from territories where the film has already been released that confirm that I watched the final cut. 

Broil plays like an adaptation of a young adult novel, think something along the lines of The Mortal Instruments or Beautiful Creatures, and yet it isn’t. It also doesn’t appear to be aimed at the young adult market however, as there’s a bit too much violence on display. Similarly, its attempts to catch an older audience with the assassin plot also doesn’t feel right. Who exactly the target audience is, remains to be determined, but whoever they are, they’ll need genius level puzzle-solving skills to decipher just what is happening. Identity crisis doesn’t begin to cover Broil’s shortcomings, with everything from tone, plot, sound mixing, and intent, failing on a fundamental level.  

Broil was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest Halloween.