Fractured

While returning home from a Thanksgiving visit to her parents, Joanne and her husband Ray find themselves embroiled in a heated argument about their troubled relationship. Ray grows increasingly frustrated with Joanne’s incessant nagging, while she accuses him of no longer standing up for anything that matters. Their daughter, Peri, interrupts when she needs to use the restroom, prompting a stop at a service area. During this brief respite, Ray picks up a coke for Joanne and some batteries for Peri’s Walkman.

Things take a turn when Peri misplaces her compact mirror, leading the couple to embark on a frantic search. When Ray’s attempt to scare away a dog at a nearby construction site backfires, he inadvertently causes Peri to fall into a pit. In his desperate attempt to save her, Ray also tumbles in, suffering a head injury in the process. Moments later, a panicked Joanne arrives, leading them to a hospital to treat Peri’s injured arm.

As they make their way to the hospital, tension mounts between Joanne’s urgency for Ray to drive faster and their growing anxiety over Peri’s condition. At the hospital, the couple faces a grueling admissions process, with Joanne urging Ray to take action to expedite care for their daughter. They are also confronted with a difficult decision about registering Peri as an organ donor, which they ultimately refuse. Here, Ray grapples with memories of his deceased first wife, Abby, who has haunted him since he remarried Joanne six years ago.

Upon finally seeing a doctor, Dr. Berthram, they learn that Peri’s arm is fractured, and a CAT scan is ordered due to potential head trauma. While Joanne accompanies Peri for the scan, Ray dozes off in the waiting area, only to awaken in a wholly disconcerting situation. When he inquires about his family, he learns that both Joanne and Peri’s records have mysteriously vanished.

Desperate for answers, Ray is met with disbelief and confusion from the hospital staff, culminating in his restraint by security personnel, who sedate him. He manages to evade his captors, taking adrenaline autoinjectors in a frantic bid to rescue his loved ones. His pleas to two responding officers to investigate what he insists is a cover-up fall on deaf ears, leading Ray deeper into panic as he tries to reconstruct the sequence of events.

In a series of events that spiral out of control, Ray’s situation worsens. Dr. Jacobs questions him about the details of his supposed accident and previous alcoholism. Ray vehemently denies having relapsed into a state of delusion, but the authorities begin to suspect him of wrongdoing as the K-9 unit uncovers blood evidence at the scene of the incident.

As the narrative unfolds, through a haze of confusion and a desperate need for clarity, Ray takes drastic measures, holding Dr. Jacobs at gunpoint to acquire access to the hospital. Disguised and in a blaze of chaos, he encounters harrowing sights in the hospital’s basement, where he believes he finds Peri and Joanne. Ray’s distorted perception leads him to believe he is rescuing them from sinister operations involving organ harvesting. However, the harsh truth soon unravels—the reality is stark and tragic. In a desperate misinterpretation, he eludes the hospital with what he believes to be his family, while the grim truth reveals his own dark actions led to their tragic fate. Ultimately, in a heartbreaking twist, Ray’s struggle with reality culminates as he drives towards a new dawn, forever changed by his unfathomable loss.

Last Updated: November 15, 2024 at 16:32