‘Broken Ceiling’ is a Timely Response to Toxic Workplaces Everywhere

[Light spoilers] The premise of Broken Ceiling is this: “When Angela Walker is passed over for yet another promotion, she decides she’s going to have to break through the invisible corporate barriers once and for all.” Well, color me interested. Being director, Adam Davis’ first feature film, (his award-winning short films include 2016’s No Touching starring Zoë Bell, Heidi Moneymaker, Jake Busey, and Doug Jones), he sure did set out to make a film that is timely and relevant in the present day. Shot entirely in a nondescript office in four days, this independently produced film speaks to toxic work environments and what happens when the dogged out, underpaid, under-appreciated, taken for granted and surely underestimated have had enough.

What works the best here in this drama is the ability of the actors to work on and against each other in contained spaces. The best scenes are the cast in the conference room on a Saturday morning during the conference call. You know, that conference call that has everyone’s hopes and dreams (and their asses when it comes to their jobs) on the line. Regen Wilson is Ken Wolf (Fear The Walking Dead, VEEP and The Haves and the Have Nots), the boss or Ken, the great manipulator and soothsayer of all the right words at the right time. He is unabashedly loud and quick to anger with his direct reports over the tiniest inconveniences and smallest irritations. His relationships with the three other employees who join him this fateful Saturday are co…