‘Nervous Breakdown’ (2018) – Broken Down Horror Short Review

Nervous Breakdown is an interesting, confusing horror short by director Dan Robinette (Tethered 2017). It’s often strange seeing a movie like this, because I feel I missed something along the way. Maybe there was a sparse detail I didn’t catch, or some piece of unfamiliar mythology that slipped by me. Basically, I didn’t entirely get this film. That being said, I think Nervous Breakdown isn’t meant to be totally understood.

What’s the 13 minute long Nervous Breakdown about? In 1983 in Greensboro, North Carolina, a young girl named June went missing. Cryptically, all they found was her abandoned car. Five years later, her sister, Jane (newcomer Melissa Blackwell), thinks the disappearance involves a piece of white cloth on the car… or something like that. She tells her theory to Sheriff Tom (Chris Kelly: Shifting Gears 2018), but he doesn’t believe her. Part of her theory is about people surrendering to their fears, and that certain animals sense fear. Jokingly, Sheriff Tom says, “Can we put out an APB on evil?”

Written by debut scriptwriter Cooper Thornton, the movie moves very quickly, and I’m not even quite sure what happens towards the end. It’s apparent that Tom is incompetent, with a shoot first, ask questions later approach to cop stuff. There’s also some vague, strange evil going on involving ghosts or creatures (Chris Demm: Hank vs the Undead 2014, Kayla Stuhr: Tethered 2017). It’s definitely not something I understood right off the bat, but its quirkiness isn’t necessarily a weakness.

Is it Good?

Nervous Breakdown is a pretty decent, atmospheric short horror film with stabs of humor and a unique concept. Still, I would say the short running time and confusing plot made the tale feel incomplete. The film seemed eager to establish its own mythology, but there wasn’t enough time to allow it to develop more fully. As a result, Nervous Breakdown seems more like a skit or a sketch than a fully realized idea. I’d recommend the filmmakers expand on the premise and create a feature length movie, or at least extend the runtime to get more story in.

I enjoyed Melissa Blackwell’s angry delivery and Sheriff Tom’s frustrated condescension regarding her theory. The problem is, I barely know what her theory was. I’m not the kind of reviewer to eagerly trash a film, and that’s not my intent here. Instead, I’d just like someone to spell out for me exactly what happened in this story, because the end result made me feel like I wasn’t paying attention, even though I was.

Have you seen Nervous Breakdown? What are your thoughts on what happened? Let us know in the comments!