Joanne Mitchell makes her debut as a full-length director by taking her short Sybil and creating Broken Bird. Based on a story by Tracey Sheals and written by Mitchell and Dominic Brunt, it tells several stories about loss and grief, most importantly Sybil (Rebecca Calder), an assistant undertaker who styles herself like a modern day Louise Brooks, attends open mike nights where she reads obtuse poetry and dreams of being in love with Mark (Jay Taylor), a man who works at the Roman funeral museum.

There’s also Emma (Sacharissa Claxton), who has lost her child and is drinking herself into oblivion, which starts to impact her job as a cop and keeps her from investigating her case.

Meanwhile, Sybil’s imagination runs wild, always being disappointed by real men and choosing to romance those who are dead and unable to disappoint her. Sadness has infected her whole life, as she’s the only survivor of an auto accident that killed her entire family. While strange, she’s a hard worker and prized by her boss.

Once she learns that Mark has a fiancee named Tina (Robyn Rainsford), Sybil is let down yet again. When Mark dies — maybe not an accident — she finally gets the chance to touch him, even if he’s joined the choir invisible. At the same time, Emma gets closer to where her dead son’s body disappeared from after it was at the very same funeral home where Sybil works, a place where wonders what her boss Mr. Thomas (James Fleet)(James Fleet) keeps in the cold room.

Calder is incredible in this, pulling off a balancing act that requires her to be monstrous and yet sympathetic. There are moments where you will be on her side, despite the fact that she covets a widow’s lost lover and does all she can to possess it, even dancing before him and covering his face with her panties. It’s enough to wake him up, at least in her fantasies, and maybe that’s all she needs. Maybe this world isn’t for her.

I watched Broken Bird at Pigeon Share FrightFest. It’s the UK’s best, brightest, and largest independent international thriller, fantasy, and horror film festival and has three major events each year in London and Glasgow. Learn more at the official site.