FRACTURED (2019) Netflix Review (SPOILERS)

This mysterious Netflix original thriller is very reminiscent of "Shutter Island" where a man finds himself thrust into a missing person's case. None of the evidence makes sense, and the world around him actively tries to sabotage the investigation. However, the end reveals an unexpected twist. "Fractured" delivers on all counts.

A family of three travel cross country over the Thanksgiving holiday when an unexpected tragedy strikes. Ray and Joanne Monroe struggle to find happiness in their marriage when their young daughter Peri hits her head after falling into a construction pit. It's an uncontrollable accident that happens in the blink of an eye. Yet, the experience causes a serious change in Ray. It is as if the horror of that experience snaps him into the father, husband, and provider that his wife longs for him to be. He rushes his daughter to the nearest hospital and demands quality care for his daughter, and his wife suddenly learns to appreciate him. For the first time, it seems like his family has a stable future.

Until Joanne and Peri disappear.

They board an elevator and never come back out. Not a single hospital employee acknowledges their existence. Thus, Ray embarks on a desperate campaign to locate his wife and daughter. He becomes convinced that the hospital kidnaps them for the purpose of harvesting their organs. He obsesses over his unproven theory. The deeper he digs, the more evidence and facts point to the possibility that his family never accompanied him into the ER. They may be a figment of their imagination.

Where are they? What happens to them? Do they even exist?

In light of all these questions, he continues to fixate on remaining the protector and provider his family needs. That need drives him throughout the entire investigation. He strives to be a hero for his wife and daughter, and he fights every person who stands in his way.

However, such a drive can be dangerous. In no way does he handle his investigation like a hero. Instead, he becomes irrational and impulsive. His emotions drive him to the point where he behaves like the very lunatic that the hospital staff insists he is. He has violent episodes that drive him to hold police officers at gunpoint, shoot a doctor in the doctor, and murder a security guard. His inability to behave rationally does him no favors in the end.

He becomes so obsessed that he refuses to listen to reason.

In the end, there is no hospital-wide conspiracy, only an over-crowded hospital that has neither the time nor the resources to deal with a raving man and his delusions. His family is real. They are indeed on a return trip from a family Thanksgiving before his daughter falls into a pit. However, neither Peri nor Joanne survive the accident. He makes his trip to the hospital alone, the bodies of his troublesome family lying cold in the back of his car. Hiding in plain sight the entire time.

His desire to protect his family is nothing more than a fantasy. He is never a hero for his family. Instead, he becomes a loose cannon, dangerous and violent. In reality, he is the very perpetrator he desperately tries to prove to the contrary. The harder he tries to prove his innocence the guiltier he becomes.

He never accepts his guilt over the fatal fate of his family. He refuses to repent. Thus, he continues to hurt other people: doctors, police, security guards, and an innocent patient. His actions lead them all to suffer, and some to die. Meanwhile, his heart suffers. As long as he does not set himself free with repentance and refuses the help he needs, he will continue to suffer.

There is only one way to alleviate oneself from guilt: repentance. Ray Monroe follows another path where there is no freedom, only suffering. He succumbs to a fantasy world where his violent actions are conveniently justified. Let us learn from his example. Take responsibility for your actions and repent. God is forgiving. He will set you free.