Review by Jon Donnis
Chris (Cameron Monaghan) is a retired tech millionaire, he wrote an app, sold it to google, and now he lives in a beautiful house with futuristic technology throughout. His wife (Sasha Luss) is divorcing him.
One late night he decides to go shopping, and meets a gorgeous blonde woman, Sky (Lilly Krug), she asks for his help in choosing some wine, her Uber cancels on her, and he ends up taking her back to his. This happens to me all the time! Really! Ok, apart from the hot blonde and I don't have a futuristic house, but the rest is spot on.
Chris and Sky start seeing each other, then one night when coming back to his car, someone is trying to break in, a scuffle ensues, and the criminal attacks Chris with a crowbar. Sky then steps in as a nurse for Chris to help him in his recovery.
From director Luis Prieto and writer David Loughery, Shattered is supposed to be your classic psychological thriller, with sex and violence thrown in. So, when Chris gets injured, and Sky starts looking after him, that is when the film starts to get going, step in John Malkovich as Ronald, who runs the residential motel that Sky lives in. A death of a roommate. Lots of twists and the film has all the ingredients to be a great psychological thriller.
The problem is the film is quite dull to start off with, and although the film tries to be a throwback to the days of films like Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction, the first hour just isn't very good, and by the time the film does kick into gear, it is nearly over, as it has a relatively short run time of about 90 minutes.
The acting is good, but the writing is poor, which leaves very talented actors, with a script that does not reach their level of ability.
The Good
Shattered looks great, it is filmed well, it looks professional, and the last 30 minutes are actually quite good.
The Bad
In the world of "On Demand", if you don't grab the attention of the viewer early on, you risk losing them, and they will just turn off, I fear that is what will happen with this film.
Overall
The film is ok, Sky (Lilly Krug) is great, and without spoiling anything, plays her part convincingly. I just feel like the actors deserved a better script.
I score Shattered a generous 5/10
