Fragmentada is an effective police film in which Jazmín Stuart shines.

Broken (Argentina-Uruguay/2023). Written and directed by: Facundo Escudero Salinas. Photography: Fernando Lorenzale. Music: Pablo Benjamín. Editing: Damián Tetelbaum. Cast: Jazmín Stuart, César Bordón, Beatriz Spelzini, Juana Bosco, Paula Tabachnik, Diego Quiroz. Running time: 103 minutes. Distributor: Cine Tren. Rating: suitable for people over 16 years old. Our opinion: good.

Filmmaker and screenwriter Facundo Escudero Salinas enters a familiar formulaic terrain, a thriller with a strong female figure at the helm, a police officer with a traumatic past that she is forced to confront when a new case comes into her hands. Broken could have rested on those commonplaces typical of neo-noir, but fortunately it opts for a more intimate approach. Jazmín Stuart plays with great magnetism Irina, the policewoman who travels to Patagonia to take care of her sick mother along with her daughter, who is going through a chaotic moment that overlaps the general narrative without underlining it.

When Irina arrives on the scene, she is shaken by the murder of a friend’s daughter, which prompts her to stay behind to carry out an investigation and cooperate with the police forces in the area. As she learns about the young woman’s interests, activism and struggles, Irina encounters a dangerous micro-world in which a trusted person can easily become a suspect. At this point, Fragmentada becomes slightly predictable towards the end, so the parallel plot, linked to the relationship between the protagonist and her daughter, becomes more relevant and is explored with welcome nuances.

Consequently, when the detective story focuses on the sacrifices of motherhood rather than on the central case to be solved, it acquires autonomy and distances itself from possible comparisons with similar fictions.

By MILAGROS AMONDARAY