We all make mistakes in life, but what if you could see one coming before you make it and avert it completely?  That's what A Broken Family is about.  This film from Silent But Deadly Productions was produced by Brooke Lemke and Rachel Grubb through their production company, Silent But Deadly Productions, and can be seen as an added short on their Why am I in a Box? DVD release.  The film itself was written by Brooke Lemke and she directed it as well.

So here's the story...

Michelle (Stephanie Nelson) and Tim (Daniel Sjerven) are going to get married.  The wedding's actually happening and they're just waiting for the bride to come down, but she's not coming.  Her Maid of honor Ashley (Sheena Leigh) and her fiance Brandon (Matt Franta) go upstairs looking for her and they find her in one of the rooms crying.  Ashley goes in to talk to her while Brandon waits outside.  As it turns out, Michelle doesn't love Tim at all and considers him more of a stranger now than when they first met.  It's always about him, he never talks to her, he'll want her to give up her dreams, etc...  She really wants to be an artist and follow her own dreams, but there's a problem.  She's pregnant.

After a lot of talking, Ashley convinces her that she needs to go through with it for the sake of the baby, because their father was a single parent and he was run ragged all the time trying to take care of them alone.  Eventually Michelle realizes she has to give up her dreams and go do what she has to do.  Fortunately for Ashley though, it's not too late.  She sees the same upcoming fate for herself and decides right then and there to change her situation.

This film was...well there are a lot of words I can use to describe it.  Professional, thoughtful, meaningful, beautifully produced, and a host of other descriptive terms that would probably make Brooke and Rachel very happy.

Let's start with the production quality.  The whole visual look of the film was wonderful, from the camera work to the set design to the costumes...everything looked very authentic and the setting was perfect for the story.  The best part of this film however were the characters.  The actors played out the story beautifully and really put a sense of emotion, and in the case of the bride, desperation, behind the words.  Both the story and the dialogue were very immersive and believable, which served to made the film very immersive for the viewer.

Technically the film was incredibly well made, except for one small sound issue early on that had me wondering what was going on for a minute because I couldn't hear the dialogue all that well.  Other than that one spot though, the sound was great, as was the camera work, the lighting, the editing and everything else.  The film is perfectly paced and the story is well complimented by it's roughly eight minute running time.  Nothing felt compressed or stretched out in any way.  It all flowed really well from the very beginning right through to the end credits.

Judging from the talent I saw on display in this film, we can expect a lot of great things from Silent But Deadly productions in the future.

If you'd like to find out more about this or any of their other great films, you can check out the Silent But Deadly Productions website at http://www.sbdproductions.com.