Broken English ★★★

Released: 20 March 2026

Director: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard

Starring: Marianne Faithfull, George MacKay, Tilda Swinton, Zawe Ashton, Edith Bowman, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Marianne Faithfull was a pioneering 60s icon, part of the British invasion, closely associated with The Rolling Stones and in particular Mick Jagger. Faithful passed away in January 2025; her story is now brought to life in Broken English in rather unique fashion with a blend of performance, talking heads and archive footage. The film takes its name from arguably her most acclaimed album from 1979.

The film seeks to position Faithfull’s place within British music and the 1960s era in particular. It covers both the highs of her initial musical career and comeback and the lows of addiction and her affiliation with The Rolling Stones. It is deliberately disjointed, and Tilda Swinton and George MacKay’s fictional characters are our guides between different eras in Faithful’s life, featuring regular interviews with Faithful towards the end of her life, alternating with archive interviews. Among those interpreting her music are Suki Waterhouse and Nick Cave, with additional commentary from Sophia Di Martino and Zawe Ashton.

The range of figures involved goes some way to showing how revered Faithfull is across a range of generations and how, perhaps, she has been unfairly lumped in simply as an ex muse and inspiration for Mick Jagger; she was a towering figure in her own right.

Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard previously directed the Nick Cave documentary 20,000 Days on Earth, and their off-kilter approach to Faithfull, part documentary, part performance, makes for a fascinating, albeit uneven film. The unorthodox approach does justice to its source material, and there is an enormous amount crammed into just over 90 minutes. A more traditional documentary may have captured the moments and intricacies of her life more, but there is a poetic freedom to Broken English, a fitting farewell.

Forsyth and Pollard showcase their artistry as documentary filmmakers, and the range of figures involved hammers home how influential a figure Faithfull has been over the past 60 years. It is a touching, emotional tribute, especially coming so soon after her death. It will hopefully help introduce her music to a new audience. Even if Broken English is a tad scattershot at times, there is much to admire in this loving portrait of an icon.