# The Break (2016)

> A Brussels police officer uncovers a murder hidden behind an apparent suicide in a secretive Ardennes village.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/57987

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 20
- Episode runtime: 55 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Created by: Matthieu Donck
- Network: La Une
- Cast: Guillaume Kerbusch, Jasmina Douieb, Sophie Maréchal, Aurélien Caeyman, Lara Hubinont, Jean-Henri Compère, Yoann Blanc, Sophie Breyer
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4792480/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: bleak, tense, atmospheric, melancholic, brooding

## What critics say

Audiences rate the Belgian crime drama positively for its tense murder-mystery structure and grounded, atmospheric handling of a small-village investigation.

## Synopsis

The Break (2016-2018) is a Belgian French-language crime drama series created by Matthieu Donck for La Une. Set in a small village in the Ardennes, it follows Brussels police officer Sébastian Drummer (Guillaume Kerbusch) after he arrives to investigate the death of a young African footballer that initially appears to be suicide. Drummer, alongside local colleagues including Jasmina Orban (Jasmina Douieb) and Zoé Fisher (Sophie Maréchal), must pry open a community that would rather keep its secrets buried. The engine of the series is a steady, methodical hunt for the truth, built around interviews, shifting alliances, and the personal costs of an investigation in a place where everyone knows everyone. Across two seasons of ten episodes each, the story unfolds as one continuing case rather than standalone cases, with each hour tightening the net around a community's hidden fault lines. The tone is bleak, tense and atmospheric, with long quiet stretches of rain-soaked woodland and wintry village streets punctuated by sharp confrontations. Its themes of prejudice, guilt and the pressure of collective silence give it a weight that fans of Broadchurch and The Killing will find familiar, while its moody European sensibility will appeal to viewers drawn to Wallander. Presented as a Belgian prestige crime drama, it rewards patient, full-attention viewing.

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