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Bluegrass, tattoos, and the kind of grief that tears marriages apart.
Hidden Gem
TMDB
77
IMDb
77
Rotten Tomatoes
83
Audience Score
85
Google
86
Watch(US)

The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)

Emotionally obliteratingMusically rawBelgian heartbreak

Overview

Drama

The loss of their young daughter threatens to destroy the love and faith of two married musicians.

Flag of BEBEFlag of NLNLDutch
Content warning
intense9/11powerfuldeath of a child

Standout Aspects

Acting

Baetens and Heldenbergh destroy you with raw, lived-in pain.

Score

Bluegrass covers that somehow make death more bearable.

Editing

Time-jumping structure mirrors grief's cruel whiplash.

Best for:Solo: You need to ugly-cry in peace, trust me.·Streaming: Pause to recover. You'll need breaks.
Heads up:Emotional: Child death depicted; grief so intense it physically hurts.·Disturbing: Hospital scenes and parental breakdowns are unflinching.
Felix van Groeningen

Director

Felix van Groeningen

ReleasedOct 9, 2012
Runtime1h 52m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacesteady
Intensityhigh
Tonedark
Feelheavy
Revenue$5.5M
Topkapi Films
Menuet

Top Cast

Veerle Baetens

Veerle Baetens

Elise

Johan Heldenbergh

Johan Heldenbergh

Didier

Nell Cattrysse

Nell Cattrysse

Maybelle

Geert Van Rampelberg

Geert Van Rampelberg

William

Robbie Cleiren

Robbie Cleiren

Jimmy

Bert Huysentruyt

Bert Huysentruyt

Jef

Jan Bijvoet

Jan Bijvoet

Koen

Blanka Heirman

Blanka Heirman

Denise

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Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Trivia

The actors performed all their own vocals; Baetens learned banjo from scratch. The Nashville scenes were actually filmed in Belgium with American extras.

Cultural

The film sparked debate in Belgium about its portrayal of American culture and whether the 9/11 subplot deepens or distracts from the central tragedy.

YouTube

Trailer

Trailer

Gallery(19 images)

Reviews

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