Hard Broken follows a group of friends that is thrown into a frenzy after one of them dies in a tragic murder, leading to the facade of flawless lives and relationships crumbling down around them all. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
Yasmine is murdered by a masked person on the way to the hospital after severe pain in her stomach at her anniversary party.
An investigation is launched but no evidence is found. One by one, all her friends, family members, and colleagues are brought in for questioning. One of them, Saad, makes some sensational claims about Yasmine’s unfaithfulness.
Her husband Adam, who was always suspicious and paranoid about her cheating on him, finds her second phone.
Yasmine’s colleague Youseff and his wife Lana, who’s also business partners with Adam, take interest in the phone. Meanwhile, flashbacks delve into Yasmine’s life before her marriage and after it.
Youseff goes to desperate measures to get his hands on the phone and is arrested eventually because of it. More evidence incriminating him surfaces and he’s sentenced to death by hanging.
The secret of Yasmine’s death is finally revealed as Adam and Lana are shown to be the perpetrators who killed Yasmine and framed Youseff as revenge.
During a visit, Adam confesses to him that he murdered Yasmine. Youseff is filled with rage and decides to execute his own revenge, before Hard Broken season 1 ends.
Performances
The performances in Hard Broken range from bad to terrible, as actors, either due to the weak material or their own level of commitment to the part, fail at rousing much desire to root for any of them.
Muhamad Al-Hamdi is effective as far as portraying how despicable Adam is as a human being, but his more animated emotional breakdowns are not as believable, nor is his affection for his daughter.
Rasha Bilal is fairly okay in her role as Yasmine and does nothing too notable. This is the same case for most of the cast, as the actors lend to the story with their seemingly less-than-enthused commitments to their respective roles.
Positives
The best part of the show is that it ends quickly. The brisk nature of the pace with which matters proceed, not because of the natural progression of the plot but because of the runtime only, is appreciable.
Negatives
Hard Broken is a very lousy show and it is this laziness and flair for the lack of commitment that tanks it.
The show is inherently Soap operatic and yet all the melodrama, high voltage reveals, spicy sex scenes, and insane twists elude this boring plot.
The characters are written in such a way that there’s no room for speculation left as to who murdered who and which characters were in a secret affair.
In fact, one might end up overestimating the writing of the show only to receive a reality check for their headcanons.
Whole sequences are changed with the changes being so painfully obvious that the twists — the purpose they’re made for — end up with none of the payoff or thrill they should carry.
The last episode of Hard Broken tries so desperately to cram in as many new reveals and storylines that the obvious attempts to move ahead for a second season almost seem sad.
Verdict
Hard Broken takes the elements of a standard soap opera and treats them with little self-awareness of the ridiculousness and dry, drab execution that it manages to tire one out even with its brief runtime.
To top it off, the poor acting, unseemly cinematography, and dastardly writing turn this soapy binge into an endurance test.
Also Read: Hard Broken summary and ending explained
