TL;DR – A look at the effects of death and trauma, that then gets weird.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Review –

One of the things I think people have a hard time comprehending is the lasting impact of trauma and what it does to a person. The impacts that reaching into the past, present, and future. Today we look at a film that explores that reality and the effect it can have and how people can be real asses about it.

So to set the scene, Ben (Jace Pickard) and Allison (Debbie Neilson) are living their lives, exploring the potential names for their coming baby, when there is a crash of glass outside. Ben goes outside to see what caused it when Allison noticed the fridge door has been left open, but no one has been in the fridge. When they get back inside the power goes out and when they flip the fuse back on the attack happens. Two years later, Ben has finally started a new relationship when he is meeting the parents and drinks wine for the first time in two years and blacks out, but where did he go when he blacked out?    

Right from the start, this was a really interesting film, even if it does take a bit of a slow burn to get going. There were moments of real tension and pain at the start of the film and you really feel for Ben as his life slowly unravels around him. This is even before the film reveals where it is going, and where it is going is a really weird place that I can’t talk about more because it gets into spoilers. I liked that you are not quite sure what is real and what isn’t and how that plays into the narrative. All of this is counterpointed by some really touching moments as people shear their grief about death. Also, it was good to see the film explore Australia’s relationship with alcohol and how people can’t just accept ‘no I don’t drink’ as an answer.

Where I think the film does not work as well stems mostly from its small budget and having to work through those restraints. For example, for me, the score felt like something you would hear in an 80s film and it became distracting in places. As well as this, there are some character interactions that were a bit stilted in places and that did impact a bit on the flow. Finally, this is quite an ambitious film, but because of that and everything they were trying to do not everything landed as well as it could have. One of the big areas you see that is in a racism subplot that just falls flat and didn’t need to be there.

In the end, do we recommend Fragmentary? Yes, I think we would. It is a film that is a bit rough around the edge in places, but for a first-time director/writer I think they have done a really good job of bringing this story to life. It is an interesting character piece, though maybe and [spoilers] for the last line, don’t try to see if drinking gives you powers, because trust me that does not work out like that in real life.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Fragmentary?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Fragmentary
Directed by – Jace Pickard
Written by – Jace Pickard
Music by – Lachlan Parker
Cinematography by – Nicholas Price
Edited by – James Manera
Production/Distribution Companies – We’re The Weirdos Productions
Starring – Jace Pickard, Jacinta Moses, Debbie Neilson, Renee Lim, Helen Shoobert, Sandy Winton, Stephen Mahy & Wayne Tunks     
Rating – Australia: MA15+;