In the unsettling narrative of Fractured, a Netflix psychological thriller directed by Brad Anderson (known for his work on The Machinist), viewers follow Ray Monroe, portrayed by Sam Worthington. After a chaotic Thanksgiving visit with his in-laws, Ray, his wife Joanne (Lily Rabe), and their daughter Peri (Lucy Capri) make a stop at a gas station, which leads to a horrifying chain of events when Peri injures her arm in a fall. Compelled to seek medical help, the family heads to a nearby hospital, where their reality takes a confusing turn as Ray awakens to find no one remembers his wife and daughter.
What begins as ordinary care transforms into a nightmare for Ray as he confronts an eerie truth: his loved ones have seemingly vanished, leaving him to grapple with a head injury while his desperate search unfolds. As paranoia kicks in, Ray spirals deeper into a psychological abyss, uncertain of whom to trust and what tragic fate may have befallen his family.
What Happens in Fractured’s Ending
Ray Has A Psychotic Break When Authorities Learn The Truth
Following a precarious escape from hospital security, Ray alerts local authorities and brings in Dr. Jacobs (Adjoa Andoh), a psychiatrist, to help understand his plight. She discovers that Ray has never fully processed the trauma from a car accident that took the life of his first wife eight years prior. In a chilling twist, during an impromptu return to the gas station with Dr. Jacobs and officials, they find evidence indicating that Ray may have unintentionally caused the deaths of Joanne and Peri during the chaotic sequence of events that unfolded.
Despite these harrowing revelations, Ray becomes increasingly insistent that something sinister is afoot within the hospital. In an intense confrontation, he discovers a hidden organ-harvesting operation and battles to rescue his “family, ”only to realize in a moment of despair that he has freed an unconscious victim still under anesthesia.
Ultimately, Ray grapples with the chilling truth that his actions resulted in the deaths of both his wife and daughter, whose bodies he relegated to the trunk of his vehicle. The film culminates with Ray driving away, enveloped in a delusion that he has achieved success as a husband and father while unknowingly sealing his fate as a fugitive.
Ray’s Wife & Daughter Are Dead
He Accidentally Killed Them & Put Them In His Car Trunk
Ray’s unraveling begins when, while attending to Peri after her fall, he loses consciousness. This blackout serves as a critical point where reality fractures, pushing him into a discordant mindset filled with compounding trauma. Overwhelmed by guilt and frustration, Ray mistakenly causes Joanne’s fatal injury in a moment of recklessness, resulting in his psychotic break that leads him to believe in an elaborate conspiracy surrounding his family’s disappearance.
Ray Is Completely Mentally Broken By The End
Ray Has No Concept Of Reality As He Leaves Hospital
As Ray’s mental state deteriorates, he engages in increasingly irrational behavior to uphold his fabricated reality where his family remains alive. His desperate actions escalate, leading him to steal weapons and confront law enforcement, culminating in further violence. The harrowing tale serves as a stark reminder of the psychological impact of unresolved trauma.
After years of harboring the pain of his first wife’s death, Ray’s catastrophic series of events culminates in believing he has salvaged his family from danger. In a haunting final scene, he drives away, singing blissfully to the absence of his wife and daughter, embodying the tragedy of a father lost in his delusion.
The Real Meaning Of The Fractured Ending
Ray Is Incapable Of Processing His Grief
Director Brad Anderson added a poignant closing shot that hints at Ray’s potential return to reality, underscoring the film’s tragic implications. In this moment, Ray’s joyful expression shifts to one of despair, suggesting a dawning realization of the truths he has evaded.
“The last frame of the movie is a close up of Ray’s face after he’s just sung a song to his child in the backseat and his wife. It’s a sense of accomplishment and being a hero.‘I did it! I saved them from the bad guys at the hospital.’ But then we kept it rolling, and in the last frames, you start to see his face fall, like it just dawned on him.”
As the narrative progresses toward its grim conclusion, Ray’s fate appears sealed. Following his violent outbursts, including the murder of a police officer, he faces the likelihood of confinement in a psychiatric institution. The unresolved trauma highlighted throughout Fractured casts a long shadow over Ray, revealing the precarious nature of mental health processes and the deep scars left by personal tragedy.
How The Fractured Ending Was Received
The Final Moments Were All-Too-Familiar For Most Viewers
Critical reception for Fractured was polarized, with many viewers split between appreciating the psychological elements and finding the film lacking in novelty. This division is reflected in ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds a critic score of 56% and an audience score of 53%.The consensus suggests that while the ending of Fractured was not poorly executed, the overall narrative suffers from a sense of familiarity, lacking innovative storytelling.
Critics noted that some moments appeared derivative, even if the film maintained an engaging mystery. For example, Benjamin Lee from The Guardian acknowledged the film’s watchable aspects while critiquing its predictability:
“It never feels like much of a stretch for [director Brad Anderson] but it’s also never less than watchable thanks to some unexpected directorial choices and a curious, compelling mystery at its center. Given the familiar territory, it’s less a question of ‘Where will this go?’ and more of ‘Which similarly plotted film’s twist ending will it most closely resemble?’, a less surprising game but a fun one nonetheless.”
Conversely, some critics expressed frustration with the film’s predictable arc and lamented its lack of depth. Brian Tallerico of Roger Ebert delivered a scathing review, condemning the twist as unoriginal:
“I was excited at the prospect of a filmmaker I admire playing with a classic mystery/thriller structure in the Netflix Original ‘Fractured.’ 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.”
In summary, while Fractured‘s ending is executed with a competent thriller approach, it ultimately fails to innovate or surprise, leading to a critical consensus that the film could have reached greater heights. As audiences seek fresh narratives, the predictable nature of Fractured became a significant factor in shaping its mixed reception.
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