Shattered: Blu-Ray Review
Have you ever watched a film and thought to yourself, I feel like I have seen this before (even though you haven’t)? Many of the films written by David Loughery feel like a slightly altered duplication of the one prior. Lakeview Terrace, Obsessed, Blindsided, The Intruder and Fatale all follow similar beats in which a person or family are being terrorized by either a neighbor, a lover or simple home invader. Arriving this week on Blu-ray is Shattered, directed by Luis Prieto (Kidnap, Pusher), which feels like more of the same. That doesn’t mean the film is terrible. Sometimes these films can be mildly entertaining if the cast is able to elevate the material in any way.
Chris Decker (Cameron Monaghan) is a young, retired tech millionaire who is living a plush-yet-lonely existence in his big and beautiful secluded hill-top home. His ex, Jamie (Sasha Luss) wants him to sign their divorce papers and hopes Chris can move on with his life. Although Chris still loves Jamie and of course his daughter Willow (Ridely Asha Bateman), he focused more on his work than his family before selling his company for millions.
Chris decides to take Jamie’s advice when he meets a beautiful young woman late at night while grocery shopping. Sky (Lilly Krug) is immediately charmed by Chris and it doesn’t take long for her to head back to his place for the erotic part of this erotic-thriller. When Chris gets his leg broken the following night by a car thief, he gives Sky complete access to his home so she can help take care of him. That is where things take a turn. You see, Lilly has been studying Chris for months and arranged everything so that she could steel everything from him. Chris is now tied up and held captive in his own home until Sky completely cleans him out. There is some Misery inspired torture going on as well.
Yes, Shattered is quite dumb and lacks originality. A perfect example is when Chris manages to break free, the first person he reaches for help is someone that is working with Sky. I know there are various reasons why someone might accept a part in any given film, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what made John Malkovich take on the role of a perverted motel owner. His wacky performance is about on par with the one he gave us in the third Transformers movie. Maybe this film would be OK as a time passer on one of many streaming services, but there isn’t much here for me to recommend.
By: Marc Ferman