X
- 2018
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 28 m
- 2018
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 28 m
Summary Shaun Russell (Gabrielle Union) will stop at nothing to rescue her two children being held hostage in a house designed with impenetrable security. No trap, no trick and especially no man inside can match a mother with a mission when she is determined.
Directed By: James McTeigue
Written By: Ryan Engle, Jaime Primak Sullivan
- 2018
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 28 m
- 2018
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 28 m
Breaking In
42
3.9
Where to Watch
Summary Shaun Russell (Gabrielle Union) will stop at nothing to rescue her two children being held hostage in a house designed with impenetrable security. No trap, no trick and especially no man inside can match a mother with a mission when she is determined.
Directed By: James McTeigue
Written By: Ryan Engle, Jaime Primak Sullivan
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
42
13% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
63% Mixed
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
25% Negative
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
42
13% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
63% Mixed
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
25% Negative
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
Breaking In is a clever twist not the home invasion genre, with a dynamic lead performance by Gabrielle Union as a mother protecting her family. It’s a crowd-pleasing thriller, good but never quite great, because the story collapses under scrutiny. The film is trying to be clever and yet it relies on big, and obvious gaps in logic, but those flaws probably won't ruin the experience.
The screenplay by Ryan Engle (“Rampage,” “The Commuter”) squanders its potential for emotional depth, making Breaking In a serviceable, but indistinct product.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 34 User Ratings
3.9
18% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
35% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
47% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 34 User Ratings
3.9
18% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
35% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
47% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
This film is about a mother trying to protect her children from a group of thieves who are after her father's hidden fortune. Yeah, it's a familiar concept. If you've seen Panic Room or similar home invasion or robbery thrillers you'll probably predict most of the film. The characters are all tropes as well. However, this is a very competently made film and I was entertained nonetheless.
Interestingly, the quality increases as the film goes on. The beginning is the most the formulaic and least interesting. (There is one bit of over-the-phone exposition that is so forced, it's painful.) While the film is the most interesting and unpredictable at the very end.
The movie makes the wise choice of keeping things interesting by individualizing the crooks and having them have differing,and at times conflicting ways of handling things, rather than having them being an indiscernible group of generally evil people. The highlight of the film hands down is Billy Burke as the cunning, understated leader of the gang.
Though far from an original film, Breaking In is by no mean a waste of one's time.
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I thought this was a very good and well made film. Gabrielle Union is good as a Mom trying to protect her children from some psychos who are after millions of dollars in a safe in her father’s home. Ner father has been killed and now she has gone to his weekend home/mansion to meet a realtor and out it on the market. She and Dad never got along. Some elements are kind of contrived, for sure. But, there is certainly enough suspense and tension to keep an audience entertained. Billy Burke is effective as the head honcho of thieves and Richard Cabral is very creepy as a psycho partner in crime. And, yes, it’s not anything new and the story is similar to others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the ride. We sure did.
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The most disappointing part of Reverse Panic Room is how little it exploits its high-concept premise after spending so much time establishing all the particulars of this fortified lake house.
The disappointment of Breaking In is the wasted potential — there are a few plot setups that could have been further fleshed out or brought back around (why was her father being investigated by the DA?) and Union isn’t given enough opportunity to truly display her charms. This thriller could have really used some room to breathe.
Union is committed and convincing, but the script apparently never met a cliche it didn't want to adopt wholesale. This offers some thrills and considerable pace, but never enough narrative force.
Coasting for as long as it can on the considerable charms of its star, Breaking In is otherwise a work of profound half-assedness, running through the paces of its bare-bones framework with all the verve, energy and invention of a night-watchman winding down the last hour of his shift.
If there’s one thing that Hollywood thrillers and the legions of actors who march through them teach us, it’s that faking shock and breath-gulping panic isn’t easy. And hiding boredom, for some actors, is damned near impossible.
Shaun Russell takes her son and daughter on a weekend getaway to her late father's secluded, high-tech vacation home in the countryside. The family soon gets an unwelcome surprise when four men break into the house to find hidden money. After managing to escape, Shaun must now figure out a way to turn the tables on the desperate thieves and save her captive children. Breaking In is proof that Gabrielle Union deserves more leading roles -- particularly in films that offer more than this rote, disposable action thriller. Breaking In gets a C.
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Breaking In is not a terrible movie, just a completely unnecessary one. It brings absolutely nothing new to the cinematic table and is a complete rehash of bits and pieces from older, better movies like Panic Room. If you can name a home-invasion thriller cliché, it's definitely present in this film in some form or another, and in abundance.
I'll start with the positives here. For the most part, it's a well-directed movie. Much of the cinematography is nice to look at, providing a visual atmosphere that effectively sets a tension-filled tone. But that's about all the good I can say about it. Where the direction fails in its purpose entirely is in the action sequences. Every fight in Breaking In is ridiculous to watch. It doesn't look real, it's dragged out to unnecessarily long lengths, and the only reason the action carries on is because the characters make stupid decisions that, if avoided, could have ended the story in minutes. In addition to that, there are some parts that are shot in slow-motion for no reason whatsoever and I found myself laughing hysterically at the absurdity of it all. These flaws completely deflate any tension that was built up over the course of the story.
The acting is far from awful, but certainly does not contain any stand-out performances. That's mostly due to the fact that the writing is often lazy, forced, and cheesy, and the characters are built in such a way that they just add to the list of clichés. You've got the level-headed thug who takes the lead, the brutal one who suggests that any violent action is justified, and the one who just wants the money and is too scared to resort to violence. The crew of antagonists is literally exactly the same as the ones in Panic Room and every other movie of this genre.
It's clear that everyone involved in this production was trying to make a good film. There's a lot of talent present behind the camera and the actors really do their best, but it's a real shame that the premise and script inevitably result in a generic thriller that cannot overcome its tropes.
Story: 2
Acting: 7
Script: 2
Visuals/Sound: 6
Entertainment Value: 4
OVERALL SCORE: 4.2/10
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Breaking In, the movie's got a very basic plot and it's about this group of criminals who are invading this mother of two's house.
The action sequences are very bland and very cheesy, there's no sort of thrill from them which makes them quite boring.
The direction on which the cast have been put through for this movie isn't great, their characters can feel quite boring, cringy, lifeless and not very memorable at all.
Also, the dialogue from the characters throughout this movie is honestly so cheesy and so cringy, it's so bad.
Overall, it's not a great movie. It's got a very basic plot, bland and cheesy action sequences, characters feel very boring, cringy, lifeless and not very memorable. Also, the dialogue is honestly very cheesy and very cringy, it's not worth the watch.
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Production Company
Will Packer Productions,
Breaking In Pictures,
Dentsu,
Fuji Television Network
Release Date May 11, 2018
Duration 1 h 28 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Payback is a Mother
Website
https://www.breakinginmovie.com/
Awards
ReFrame
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Hawaii Film Critics Society
• 1 Nomination
