Fractured Movie Review: Botched Writing And Banal Characters Make Sam Worthington's Psychological Thriller Super Boring
Avatar actor Sam Worthington plays a troubled father looking for his wife and 6-year-old daughter in Brad Anderson's Fractured. The film is available on Netflix and here is our review of the movie.
Fractured movie review: Netflix is very enthusiastic when it comes to their original ventures as they managed to strike a chord with the audience for their dark themes. Take a lot of their originals such as Riverdale, Black Mirror, Velvet Buzzsaw, Okja, Bates Motel and more, have a rather dark theme and often get the likes of the fans. But their strategy doesn't always get applause from the fans and audience. Their recent film, Fractured, starring Sam Worthington, Lily Rabe and Stephen Tobolowsky, is one such work.
The story revolves around a man, Ray Monroe (Sam Worthington), who is going through marital issues with his wife Joanne Monroe (Lily Rabe) as they are returning from her parents' house with their daughter Peri (Lucy Capri). Their journey takes a short pause when Peri asks to use the restroom. Things only go downhill from here as Peri meets with an accident, as does Ray. Although Ray manages to save Peri and rush her to the hospital along with his wife Joanne, things only go down South from here. The hospital officials ask Ray to wait outside while Peri is wheeled into the MRI scan room along with Joanne. Ray wakes up the next day only to find that his wife and daughter are missing while the hospital is conspiring some big scheme.
Does he manage to save his family? Is he able to reunite with them? Why is the hospital lying to him? Are they scheming something barbaric? These answers will be given to you in the movie as we are team 'no spoilers'. But what I can tell you is that the story pretty much opens itself in the first 30 minutes itself. With a very Alfred Hitchcock-like filmmaking, director Brad Anderson tries to culminate suspense over suspense as Ray searches for answers and his family. However, in the process of aping a renowned filmmaker, Anderson does end up revealing a little too much, leaving no suspense to sustain the film's end. Despite revealing a little more than necessary (the whole plot, actually), Anderson continues to film the movie to a boring and banal end.
Fractured Trailer -
All the excitement for the suspense, the thrills, the pain of a man who has lost his family, all falter the minute the suspense is revealed. I'd blame the direction and writing for the lack of excitement in the film. Both Brad Anderson and writer Alan B. McElroy, despite a very interesting theme and plot to work on, have left an underwhelming project hanging in one of the threads of Netflix's platform. The lack of direction and crispness in the writing definitely has had a negative impact on the movie. Fractured could have been a good watch but with the mistakes of the director and the writer, the sloppy psychological thriller does nothing but make you feel like you've wasted a lot of your time.
Even the unnecessary background music and suspense scores have been terribly placed. Sometimes you don't need music to read the room and movie scene, in this case. It seems more like the filmmaker dumbed down a lot of concepts and thrills to please the audience. In terms of performance, the Avatar actor Sam Worthington definitely stands out as the film does revolve around his struggles. He is probably the only good thing about the film. So is the young Peri, played by Lucy Capri.
Yays
- Sam Worthington's performance
- The idea/concept of the story
- The cinematography with its grim theme
Nays
- Terrible direction by Brad Anderson
- Botched writing by Alan B. McElroy
- Lack of suspense
- Many blatant loopholes
- Wrongful placement of background music
- A dull rendition of Alfred Hitchcock way of filmmaking
Final Word
I'd suggest shut the Netflix app right after you reach a scene that breaks the suspense. Beyond the specific scene, the film only goes for a downward spiral with nothing new to contribute to the script.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 17, 2019 11:04 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).