The Ending Of Fractured Explained
The Netflix Original film "Fractured" tells the story of a man named Ray Monroe (Sam Worthington) who heads out on a family trip with his wife Joanne (Lily Rabe) and daughter Peri (Lucy Capri). After Peri's music player runs out of batteries and stops working, Ray promises to buy more at the next gas station. Soon enough Peri's saying she has to go to the bathroom, and so they stop. While inside looking for batteries, Ray gives in to his past alcoholism and buys some small liquor bottles. Meanwhile, Peri starts wandering away from the car toward an empty construction site when a stray dog suddenly arrives and scares her, leading Peri to fall into the exposed pit and hit her head. Ray attempts to grab her before she can fall, only causing himself to fall in as well.
When Ray awakens, Peri is injured by okay, and so Ray and Joanne decide to take her to a local hospital to get checked out, where the doctor requests to do a scan of her broken arm. Joanne goes with Peri while Ray sits in the waiting room, falling asleep, but when he wakes up no one seems to know where his family is. This leads the determined man down an intense path as he does whatever he can to find out what happened to his wife and daughter. With Ray as an unreliable narrator, "Fractured" is a psychological whirlwind with the audience rooting for Ray's intense actions, all the while wondering if his perspective can even be trusted.
If you finished watching the thriller and you're still confused about a few things, here's the ending of "Fractured" explained.
Is Ray crazy or not?
The main question always at play in the film is whether or not Ray is actually in his right mind. Throughout the movie, the audience learns that Ray lost his first wife and daughter from a drunk driving accident, in which he was the drunk driver. But does this mean that it could happen again? The answer is yes, it can, and Ray's mind can't handle it. When someone is that convinced of their reality, you can't help but believe them, which is why viewers of "Fractured" likely spend some part of the film on Ray's side. As it's a movie, of course it's possible that this strange hospital in the middle of nowhere could be harvesting organs, as anything could happen.
But by the end of the film, you realize that Ray has really been crazy the whole time, unable to cope with his life. The reality that forms around him in the hospital is his brain trying to protect Ray from the horrific trauma of killing another family. Honestly, who wouldn't go crazy at this point? Despite that, "Fractured" does a really great job of convincing the audience that Ray might be innocent — though he definitely isn't — which is a sign of a good psychological drama.
Ray's alcoholism and anger drove him to kill his family
Thankfully, "Fractured" eventually reveals what really happens at the gas station in a series of flashbacks. What really happens this fateful day is that Peri gets scared by the dog, backing up to the edge of the exposed pit. Ray throws a rock to scare the dog away, but it scares Peri too, leading her to fall back, hit her head on the ground, and bleed out. Like he describes, Ray does fall in with her and hit his head, but he comes to and finds Joanne yelling at him.
In a daze, he pushes her away, leading her to fall and hit her head on a piece of rebar sticking out, dying. It's all a terrible accident, but it's arguable that some of Ray's choices lead to the tragic events. In response, his brain paints an alternate picture of what happens, one so vivid that he is able to believe the whole organ harvesting conspiracy at the hospital and kidnap a surgery patient, thinking it's really Peri. Ray's simply unwilling to accept his new reality.
What happens next?
The movie "Fractured" ends with Ray driving away. In his back seat is the surgery patient, who seems to be going through a health emergency, with his body likely reacting to being pulled out of surgery before it could be finished or he could be stitched up. In the real back seat of the car, where you'd normally store luggage or similar items, are the bodies of Joanne and Peri, under a blanket and out of site so that Ray isn't reminded of them.
In the final moments of the movie, Ray's mind paints a picture of Joanne sitting in the back seat holding Peri in her arms. She tells Ray, "Let's go home." Considering that Ray clearly believes that he's been reunited with his family, it's not surprising to know that he next plan is to return to his home in an attempt to return to the family's "normal" life. Of course, for Ray there is no more normal, as he's killed multiple people at this point.
If the movie were to continue from this point, it's highly likely that the police are already in pursuit, or they'll be waiting for Ray at his home ready to arrest him. It's an open and shut case, as he has all the evidence the police need right in his car.