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Brad Anderson has made a career out of being as reliable as they come as a film and TV director, able to switch genres easily. The workmanlike career has led to several stand-outs, including “Session 9,” “ The Machinist ,” and “ Transsiberian .” So I was excited at the prospect of a filmmaker I admire playing with a classic mystery/thriller structure in the Netflix Original “Fractured,” released today. That excitement quickly turned to boredom and then outright anger at a twist that really thinks you’re an idiot. This atrocious movie never makes a lick of sense, wearing its “message” on its sleeve like a bad term paper, and then ending in a way that should make you angry more than eager to see if it makes any sense. 

Ray Monroe ( Sam Worthington ) is traveling with his wife Joanne ( Lily Rabe ) and daughter Peri (Lucy Capri) when tragedy strikes. They stop off at a gas station and Peri wanders away to look at a part of the site that’s under construction. She’s startled by a stray dog, who moves toward her as Peri backs up to the edge of the construction site. Ray turns around to see her, throwing a rock at the dog as Peri falls backward, landing on the concrete below. As Ray jumps to save her, he also falls. He wakes up in a daze with Joanne yelling at him, and the trio quickly speeds off to a nearby hospital.

From the minute they arrive, “Fractured” turns into a leaden commentary on our broken health care system. Despite Peri likely having at least a broken bone and possibly much worse with internal bleeding, the hospital workers are cold and downright cruel. After a long wait, some workers finally agree to see Peri, and a kind doctor ( Stephen Tobolowsky ) appears to change their fate. Peri and Joanne are taken to the basement for imaging, and Ray waits ... and waits ... and waits.

And then “Fractured” becomes a riff on “The Lady Vanishes” (or “ Flightplan ” for modern audiences), in which we have to decide if Ray is crazy or if everyone at the hospital is conspiring to make him so. The receptionist and doctors claim that Ray came in alone with his own head injury, which was then treated. There was no Peri. There was no Joanne. Most of “Fractured” consists of Ray trying to convince authorities that his wife and daughter are being held captive somewhere in the hospital, possibly even being used for an illegal organ donor operation. 

It becomes numbingly repetitive. What’s most startling is how little energy Anderson and company bring to it visually. For “Fractured” to work, it needs to feel like a waking nightmare. Anyone who has been in a big hospital knows there’s something inherently creepy about those long hallways down which it’s easy to believe loved ones could literally disappear. But there’s so little visual personality in “Fractured” that it’s startling. No sense of dread or atmosphere. It’s almost a single-setting piece, and that setting is flat and dull. Start to consider what someone like John Carpenter or David Cronenberg would have done with this space and concept and you’ll realize how much is missing here. The script by Alan McElroy , the man behind the “Wrong Turn” series, isn’t exactly blazing with sharp dialogue, and so without any interesting production design elements and forgettable, flat characters, we’re left with nothing to hold onto except the inevitable twist.

And then that twist comes like a clanging bell, and all the stuff that didn’t make sense before makes even less sense now, and you realize this whole movie has been a cheat. Roger Ebert notoriously panned “ The Usual Suspects ” because he felt manipulated by it. I don’t necessarily agree with him there, but I can relate more after watching “Fractured.” 

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film Credits

Fractured (2019)

100 minutes

Sam Worthington as Ray Monroe

Lily Rabe as Joanne Monroe

Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Berthram

Adjoa Andoh as Dr. Isaacs

Lauren Cochrane as Officer Childes

Stephanie Sy as Nurse Anne

• Brad Anderson
• Alan B. McElroy

Cinematographer

• Björn Charpentier
• Robert Mead
• Anton Sanko

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• User reviews

A couple stops at a gas station, where their 6 y.o. daughter's arm is fractured. They hurry to a hospital. Something strange is going on there. The wife and daughter go missing. A couple stops at a gas station, where their 6 y.o. daughter's arm is fractured. They hurry to a hospital. Something strange is going on there. The wife and daughter go missing. A couple stops at a gas station, where their 6 y.o. daughter's arm is fractured. They hurry to a hospital. Something strange is going on there. The wife and daughter go missing.

• Brad Anderson
• Alan B. McElroy
• Sam Worthington
• 1.2K User reviews
• 60 Critic reviews
• 36 Metascore
• 3 nominations

• Joanne Monroe

• Peri Monroe

• Dr. Berthram

• Officer Childes

• Officer Griggs
• (as Christopher Sigurdson)
• Security Guard Jeff

• Orderly Drew

• Receptionist #1
• Admissions Clerk …

• Dr. Bruce Volk …

• Receptionist #2
• (as Natalie Bailey)
• Store Cashier …
• Dale Fellows
• Dale's Mother
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia One of the four films made by Netflix for 2019 Halloween. Some of the 4 films include Rattlesnake, Eli, and In the Tall Grass.
• Goofs At no time do any of the hospital staff react appropriately to a confused patient with a possible head injury.

Ray Monroe : Next year we fly.

Joanne Monroe : How about next year we stay home...

• Connections Referenced in WatchMojo: Top 10 Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween (2019)
• Soundtracks Bits and Pieces Written by Matt Smith Courtesy of Extreme Music

User reviews 1.2K

• Nov 12, 2022
• How long is Fractured? Powered by Alexa
• October 11, 2019 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• Koji Productions
• Paul Schiff Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 39 minutes

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Fractured Reviews

It's not bad, but it's not particularly good. It tries to be a paranoid, conspiracy thriller with an issue about the reliability of its narrator, but I found it too predictable to be truly effective.

Full Review | Jul 29, 2020

Basically what I'm saying is we've seen this film several times before - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's plenty of room for contemporary remakes/re-tellings/rehashes...

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jan 8, 2020

Without the star charisma or narrative ingenuity necessary to propel its story forward, this one never lets audiences out of the waiting room.

Full Review | Nov 21, 2019

[It's] the trust one has in the director that allows oneself to be "cheated", in a good way. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Nov 18, 2019

Sadly, Worthington remains trapped in Netflix genre movie purgatory, unable to escape the streaming waiting room he's found himself in. Luckily, you have other options.

Full Review | Oct 24, 2019

Unlike a good whodunnit, where everything could be a clue and you delight in hunting for them, Fractured makes it hard, tedious work. This makes the film's 100 minutes feel like the longest 100 minutes of your life.

Fractured is the latest Netflix original thriller that feels like it was assembled in a factory, its keywords blinking to life: distant father, dissatisfied wife, vague trauma, man obsessed, save family.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Oct 23, 2019

Intense thriller has some gore, violence, cursing.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 22, 2019

An effective suspense saga. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 21, 2019

Fractured actually manages to keep these circus plates spinning for longer than most, but lacks ambition. Even so, it's fun to see them spin. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Oct 17, 2019

Brad Anderson can direct films like Fractured - his latest, out on Netflix - in his sleep. So as a fan of his work, it came as a bit of a letdown that the filmmaker appeared to have done just that.

Full Review | Oct 16, 2019

Sam Worthington delivers a career-best performance, which is enough to propel Fractured into the category of an entertaining watch.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 15, 2019

The reality is that Fractured is predicated on a litany of familiar plot points that even the least perceptive audience member will quickly pick up on.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Oct 15, 2019

Fractured is one of the most emotionally tense films of 2019, featuring an intriguing premise (although admittingly implausible) and a likable lead helmed by Sam Worthington.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Oct 14, 2019

Fractured is a real eye-roller from the Preposterous Thriller sub-subgenre (in the main category Thriller, sub-category Psychological Thriller).

Full Review | Oct 14, 2019

While the movie is just about as relentlessly bleak as The Machinist, it is undeniably fun to see a host of local actors add to the maddening ambiguity with performances that walk the line between innocent and sinister.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 11, 2019

Just fraught enough

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 11, 2019

Netflix's twisty 'Fractured' is so preposterous it kinda works.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Oct 11, 2019

What's most startling is how little energy Anderson and company bring to it visually.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Oct 11, 2019

When I wasn't busying myself making an internal checklist of films I was reminded of, I was happily playing armchair detective, curious enough to engage with the pieces I was given.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 11, 2019

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Common sense media reviewers.

Intense thriller has some gore, violence, cursing.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

No real positive messages.

No real positive role models.

A little girl walks into a construction site and f

"F--k" used a few times. "Motherf---er," "bulls--t

Can of RC Cola prominently shown in one scene.

Lead character buys mini bottles of alcohol and po

Parents need to know that Fractured is a 2019 thriller in which a man believes that a hospital has kidnapped his wife and daughter. There are some violent moments throughout, including scenes in which a woman is shown falling over and getting impaled through the head with a piece of rebar, and a young girl…

Positive Messages

Positive role models, violence & scariness.

A little girl walks into a construction site and falls to her death. A woman falls onto her side and impales her head through rebar. Fighting in an elevator, resulting in a shooting death. Reckless driving. Talk of a drunk-driving accident from a character's past that resulted in two fatalities. Some blood and gore, including scenes of cadavers in hospitals with their organs removed. Gunshots. Explosions. A brief shot of a dead wolf.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

"F--k" used a few times. "Motherf---er," "bulls--t," "s--t," "goddamnit," "ass." Middle finger gesture.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Lead character buys mini bottles of alcohol and pours it into his coffee. Talk and flashbacks to a drunk-driving accident that resulted in two fatalities.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Fractured is a 2019 thriller in which a man believes that a hospital has kidnapped his wife and daughter. There are some violent moments throughout, including scenes in which a woman is shown falling over and getting impaled through the head with a piece of rebar, and a young girl falling to her death in a construction site. Some gory imagery, including cadavers in hospitals with their organs removed. A brief shot of a dead wolf. Reckless driving. Fighting, with guns, kicks, punches. "F--k" and variations used a few times, as well as "s--t" and "ass." Lead character shown pouring mini bottles of alcohol into his coffee while at a gas station. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (4)
• Kids say (23)

Based on 4 parent reviews

Trigger warning

A disturbing film/ un film troublant, what's the story.

In FRACTURED, during a Thanksgiving road trip, Ray ( Sam Worthington ) is driving while arguing with his wife Joanne ( Lily Rabe ) and trying to keep his daughter Peri entertained. They pull off at a gas station, and while Joanne is in the rest room and Ray is trying to clean up the coffee and alcohol he just spilled all over the back seat, Peri wanders off to a construction site next door. A wolf emerges and stands between Peri and the car. As Ray tries to rescue Peri, Peri falls backwards and breaks her arm. At the hospital, Ray and Joanne must contend with long wait times and intrusive bureaucratic questioning. They finally see Dr. Berthram ( Stephen Tobolowsky ), who insists that Peri immediately gets an MRI. While Joanne accompanies Peri, Ray passes out from exhaustion in the waiting room. When he wakes up, he discovers that the hospital has no record of Peri checking in, and no record of Peri and Joanne even being in the hospital. Desperate to find his wife and daughter, and suspicious of what's really going on in this hospital, Ray must find a way to rescue Joanne and Peri.

Is It Any Good?

This decent thriller does an excellent job of playing on the sympathies of the audience. As the lead character Ray, Sam Worthington comes off as a relatable enough Middle-Aged Everyman trying to protect his family in the face of what appears to be a cold hospital bureaucracy. As the story moves deeper into the mystery, and as Ray grows increasingly desperate in his search for his missing wife and child, it's only natural to root for him as he fights back, even if Ray's perception of reality isn't exactly what's happening.

Which leads to the problem with Fractured . Ray's perception of reality is so much more interesting than the actual story, that, as much as one might root for Ray and his family, you find yourself rooting instead for a surreal external dark parody of American health care as opposed to a resolution that ultimately feels contrived and disappointing. While the ending is unsettling and somewhat disturbing, it's also an ending that seems so obvious, it's easy to feel like a sucker for ever thinking it would be any other way. In spite of this, Fractured is an eerily entertaining journey, even if the final destination isn't a dark-mirrored Twilight Zone.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Fractured . How was it used to move the story, and how was it used to scare the audience?

How does the movie explore deeper themes such as mental health, hospital bureaucracy, alcoholism?

What are some other examples of movies where the lead character's perception of the events taking place might not be completely accurate? How does this unreliable point of view heighten the suspense in thrillers?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : October 11, 2019
• Cast : Sam Worthington , Lily Rabe , Stephen Tobolowsky
• Director : Brad Anderson
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 99 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 18, 2023

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Where to Watch

Sam Worthington (Ray Monroe) Lily Rabe (Joanne Monroe) Lucy Capri (Peri Monroe) Adjoa Andoh (Dr. Jacobs) Stephen Tobolowsky (Dr. Berthram) Lauren Cochrane (Officer Childes) Shane Dean (Officer Griggs) Chris Sigurdson (Dr. Lucado) Chad Bruce (Security Guard Jeff) Gabriel Daniels (Orderly Drew)

Brad Anderson

A couple stops at a gas station, where their 6 y.o. daughter's arm is fractured. They hurry to a hospital. Something strange is going on there. The wife and daughter go missing.

Recommendations

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