Breaking is a 2022 American thriller drama film starring John Boyega as a Marine Corps veteran, Brian Brown-Easley, who is in financial trouble and robs a bank. It is written and directed by Abi Damaris Corbin and co-written by Kwame Kwei-Armah, based on the true story of Brown-Easley, detailed in the 2018 Task & Purpose article "They Didn't Have to Kill Him" by Aaron Gell. The film also stars Nicole Beharie, Selenis Leyva, Connie Britton, Jeffrey Donovan, and Michael Kenneth Williams.
The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival under its original title 892 on January 21, 2022, and was released in the United States by Bleecker Street on August 26, 2022. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
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Plot
Brian Brown-Easley, a former Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, struggles with financial hardship and psychological trauma following his honorable discharge. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and a back injury, he is unable to hold down a job and relies on a monthly VA disability check of $892. When the VA unexpectedly withholds his payment due to a disputed debt of $892 to a for-profit college, Easley is left homeless and increasingly desperate.
