Fragile (2005) User Reviews

The Mechanical Girl.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 20 October 2013]

Fragile (AKA: Fragiles) is directed by Juame Balaguero who also co- writes the screenplay with Jordi Galceran. It stars Calista Flockhart, Elena Anaya, Yasmin Murphy, Richard Roxburgh and Colin McFarlane. Music is by Roque Banos and cinematography by Xavi Gimenez.

Mercy Falls Children's Hospital, Isle of White, soon to be closed down and currently only housing the last few child patients and a skeleton crew of staff.. It is also home to something else, something sinister up on the second floor…apparently.

Supernatural spooker involving kids in peril, Fragile is quintessentially a ghost story movie for the undemanding like minded film fan looking for chills, jumps and atmosphere abound. Those in search of something new thrown on to the haunted building table are advised to steer clear, for in spite of a somewhat bonkers finale, where hospital apocalypse is the order of the day, this stays safely on the well trodden path.

Yet when done well enough clichés are not a problem, such is the case here. Flockhart's nurse has mental anguish in her past which she inevitably has to exorcise, and naturally she's going to be the heroine in some shape or form, we know this as she's the American come to the Isle of White to work, a new start. However, it's a nicely drawn characterisation that engages when the bond between nurse and one particularly troubled child is fully born.

With the back drop that of a Gothic hospital (exteriors really Bearwood College in Berkshire, England), complete with a closed ward straight out of Session 9, atmosphere is well maintained by Balaguero, and of course whenever there are sick and dying kids involved there's always a deep sadness dripped into film. The scares range from standard things that go clang in the night, lifts and beds that come to life, and edge of the seat inducing walks around dead silent parts of the hospital. Then there's that ending…

The story involving the reason for the haunting is a neat one, unfortunately the entity in its realisation is not. We are introduced to something monstrous, but it belongs in a different movie, perhaps a Clive Barker inspired one in fact. Some will (and already do) find it very freaky, but I feel it goes a bit away from the traditional ghost movie flavours previously sprinkled throughout the picture. However, there's a genuine surprise at film's closure, where not reverting to formula type is a major bonus.

Derivative? Yes more often than not. Good time assured for fans of haunted house like mysteries? Absolutely! 7/10

A very scary horror film...

[MovieGuy01 · 6/10 · 9 October 2009]

I found the film Fragile to be quite a scary horror film. It is about a new night nurse called Amy Nicholls, who arrives in the old Mercy Falls Children Hospital to work as night nurse as replacement of the former nurse who worked there called Susan. It is a soon to be abandoned children's hospital it becomes clear that these are not normal children. There is something living in the hospital, which the children call the "mechanical girl," the patients are being transferred to Saint James Hospital but due to a train crash, the closing of the hospital has been postponed. Amy is introduced to eight children with lung cases by the nurse Helen Perez, and she feels attracted to one of the girls called Maggie. Maggie likes to play with some letter blocks to talk with the "mechanical girl" called Charlotte that lives upstairs, on an abandoned floor. This seemed to be quite a strange and scary film to me. Recommended

Another scary movie from Catalan genius!

[RichieRich1 · 7/10 · 15 October 2005]

Don't look, don't move and don't even breathe.............

Well this movie opened yesterday in Spain and I saw it and I have to say that I liked it. I have seen the directors two previous movies, LOS SIN NOMBRE and DARKNESS and I think he is one of the most interesting directors in Europe at the moment. Fragile is just like Darkness in English with an international cast, mainly with actors from the UK, but in the lead we see the American actress Calista Flockhart and Australian actor Richard Roxburgh.

The movie starts very slow but after 45 minutes it comes alive and you jump out of your seat a couple of times. The acting is not the best, Calista looks mostly tired throughout the movie and there is a scene between her and Richard that should be very moving but ends up laughable. (you will recognize it when you see the movie).

Spanish actress Elena Anaya is hot and very talented and should have had more scenes.

The best thing with this movie is the mechanical girl, the ghost living on the 2nd floor. She or IT is really scary and the make up artists have done a terrific job. Every time she appears you will definitely be sacred. This movie is not going to go down as one of the best horror movies ever made, but if you like movies like The sixth sense, the omen, the eye you will definitely enjoy this one. I hope Dimension films picks this one up for an US release cause with Calista in the lead I think the movie could gross at least 40-60 million at the box office.

I can't wait for the directors next movie. Viva España!

help

[bogoevski_666 · 25 June 2006]

The reviews coming out of Venice were not kind. Indeed some reviews on this site in the message boards were not kind.....OK we are not talking about Oscar material but this film is scary in a non-gory, blood-on-walls, way and is entertaining. If cinema should be fun and a time to suspend belief then this film is OK. If you want challenging subject matter or top drawer acting look elsewhere....if you want to be scared and entertained then go for it. Flockhart is fine, the kids are good, Roxborugh is good, Anaya is good.....just don't expect too much. The sound and cinematography are very good and Jaume Balagueró holds it all together well enough....the story ticks along and builds to the final showdown and you begin to feel some empathy and understanding of the characters but we never dwell long enough on any one character....and we don't really care how or why they are in the hospital all we want to know is well they ever leave? PS:Please I Want to know the name of the soundtrack in the end(or Where i can download It) it's very good and i can't find it anywhere pls help me:]

Whats on the second floor?

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 7 September 2008]

This week my dad found out that "For one week only" the local library had a half-price sale on DVD rentals,and along with some fantastic English political-dramas (State of Play and House of Cards),he also picked this up and last night I felt it was time to watch it,and I'm am very pleased I did,due to it being a really enjoyable and well made horror film.

The Plot:

One night in a hospital at the Isle of Wight,a boy wakes up screaming and its found out that one of his legs has a fracture.But while the night-nurse Susan and a doctor try help,he suddenly gets a second fracture,and due to this Susan feels its time that she should try to find out about the "strangeness) of the hospital.

The person that replaces her is Amy,who fins out that the hospital has a first and third floor,but the second floor has been closed for forty years!,Amy becomes friends with a little girl at the hospital called Maggie.Maggie tells her how she uses building- blocks to talk to Charlotte,who she says is "The Mechanical Girl".At first,Amy dismisses this,but as her friends start to die she finds out that Charlotte has been a "urban myth" at the hospital for years.So my decides its time someone goes inside the second floor..

View on the film:

Cast:

The first thing i have to say is that Flockhart gives a very good performance as Amy.She shows her unease about the hospital,but also the determination to try and save the kids at the hospital.But the star of the film is Yasmin Murphy as Maggie,she shows that she is a bit of a spooky kid,who also wants to make a friend,and she is mature enough to know and (try) to understand the thing on the second floor.

Screenplay and direction:

The director and co-writer of the film is Javme Balguer and the other writer is Jordi Galceran.The film has a very strong Stephen King feel,that makes it feel a bit like a horror novel,so when its shown whats on the second floor,it has a very natural feel and less of a rug getting pulled under your feet feel.

Final View on the film:

A fantastic horror,with a classy feel,and a great performance by Murphy.

Interesting & creepy ghost story undone by a lousy conclusion

[Shattered_Wake · 6/10 · 26 June 2010]

Calista Flockhart (of 'Ally Mcbeal' fame) stars as Amy Nicholls, an American nurse who transfers to an English children's hospital to help the patients in their upcoming transfer out of the near-abandoned hospital. After connecting with a particularly eccentric young girl, Maggie (Yasmin Murphy), Amy soon discovers there's more to the hospital that meets the eye. After a series of violent & strange accidents occur, Amy fights to learn the secrets that have been hidden from her by the staff.

Jaume Balagueró, now best known for bringing the world the modern-classic horrors 'Rec' and its sequel, started out with a couple of lesser-known horror flicks including the creepy horror/thriller 'The Nameless' and the forgettable Anna Paquin vehicle 'Darkness.' Among these films, Balagueró bagged former TV star Flockhart to star in this haunted-hospital horror. It goes without saying that if one wants a creepy & dangerous location for a haunted-house story, a hospital is a great bet. There have been some fantastic hospital horrors including the much-loved 'Session 9' (2001).

'Frágiles,' like 'Session 9,' had a lot going for it to be a very solid horror flick. It had a talented cast, a very scary location, and a fantastic writer/director. And, for the first 80 or so minutes of the film, I thought we horror fans would have yet another great Spanish horror for the decade. It was spooky, mysterious, and interesting. While it did drag a bit in places, it still had enough suspense to make it worth it. Then, we reached the final act. After enjoying the slow-burning first three-quarters of the film, I was ready for a very creepy conclusion. Unfortunately, the film spiraled into a bit of a mess complete with a horrendously laughable spirit (worse than Elizabeth Bathory in 'Stay Alive' or the Tooth Fairy in 'Darkness falls'), some lame CGI effects, and a fast-paced, disaster-movie feel. While I didn't mind what the film was trying to do with the final act, the execution was much too rushed and far over-the-top. It would have been much better off without it.

Overall, the film is interesting and creepy with enough suspense to make it worth a watch.

Final Verdict: 6/10.

-AP3-

Horror and suspense movie with intense sequences of terror

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 16 January 2007]

An American woman (Calista Flockhart ) gets work in a rundown hospital where there are ill children which are suffering creepy events . She become clear that these are not normal kids . They're unsettling with a weird ghost is living in the hospital and the kids call the mechanical girl who has imperfect Osteogenesis . The nurse desperately tries to keep the children safe of mysterious spectres . A little girl (Ivana Baquero) begins afraid of the darkness and is terrorized asking for help but the nurse becomes threatened by vicious being that embarks upon a killing spree .

This thrilling picture displays mystery , suspense , restless terror including decent scares with tense horror sequences . It provides horrifying and hair raising images with a bit of blood and gore . The movie takes accent as the suspense as well as the terror with eerie scenes when the horrible ghost makes apparition . The narration is correctly developed with an imaginative , well-knit screenplay and striking , exciting ending . There are some scenes of an animated clip "Sleeping Beauty" it is not an excerpt from an animated film , but was created specifically for this movie . Filmmaker Jaume Balaguero is borrowing inspiration from the ghosts of ¨The sixth sense¨, demonic possession with poltergeist phenomenon with high grade FX as crack walls , rare sounds etc of ¨Amytiville¨ until his anterior films as ¨The nameless¨ and ¨Darkness¨.

The actors are top-notch , such as the little girl played by Ivana Baquero, (future star in Pan's labyrinth) as well as the adults , Calista Flockhart , Gemma Jones . Richard Roxburgh and Elena Anaya are pretty well , both of whom previously worked in ¨Van Helsing¨ as Dracula and his bride . Sinister and mysterious atmosphere is made by Balaguero's , usual cameraman : Xavi Gimenez . Shot on location in Bearwood College , Reading , England was used as the exterior location for the Mercy Falls Children's Hospital and Union Street in Ryde on the Isle of Wight . Musical Score adjusted to horror film , being magnificently composed by Roque Baños (The machinist , 800 bullets) . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Jaume Balaguero who came up with the idea for the plot after learning this rare illness : Osteogenesis . Slick movie aimed to terror fans and is one of the highest earning horror movie of the last years .

A Love Kiss

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 9 May 2008]

In Wight Island, Amy Nicholls (Calista Flockhart) arrives in the old Mercy Falls Children Hospital to work as night nurse as replacement of the former nurse Susan. The hospital is in a deactivation process, with the patients being transferred to Saint James Hospital; however, due to a train crash, the closing process has been postponed. Amy is introduced to eight children with lung cases by the nurse Helen Perez (Elena Anaya), and she feels a sort of attraction for the terminal girl Maggie (Yasmin Murphy). Maggie likes to play with some letter blocks to talk with the "mechanical girl" called Charlotte that would live upstairs, in an abandoned floor. Amy asks about Charlotte to her coworkers and they explain that she is an urban legend and the Maggie is making up her existence. But sooner they find that the children can not be transferred to Saint James since there is something evil that wants to keep them near.

"Frágiles" has a good ghost story based on the existence of lost souls that would stay in the world of the living, close to what they love. The old women explain to Amy that "it is not where they died or lived; they simply stay near what they loved, and that is what keeps them here but nothing else." The viewer needs "to buy" this concept to enjoy and understand this scary and dramatic film, the same way for example in "The Grudge" ("the curse that is born from someone dying in a powerful rage") or "The Ring" ("the viewer will die seven days after watching a videotape"), just to mention two recent successful Asian movies. This movie is well directed, the cast has great performances, and there are frightening moments along the story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Terror em Mercy Falls" ("Terror in Mercy Falls")

Decent ghost story.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 13 July 2010]

Fragile is set on the Isle of Wight where an old hospital called Mercy Falls is due to be shut down, all but a handful of patients have already been moved to another hospital but after a major train crash beds become scarce so a ward of child remain there. New night nurse Amy Nicholls (Calista Flockhart) takes charge & forms a bond with a young terminal patient named Maggie (Yasmin Murphy) who claims that she can see another girl named Charlotte, the other nurses & staff put Charlotte down to Maggie's imaginary friend but Amy is not so sure. Cahrlotte is considered an urban legend at Mercy Falls as various children have seen her down the years but as the closing down process continues unexplained injuries & even death's make Amy question what is going on, Amy thinks it could have something to do with the deserted closed down second floor that has a dark past & starts to investigate...

Shot under the title Frágiles this Spanish & British co-production was co-written & directed by Jaume Balagueró, despite some of the surprisingly positive comments & reviews Fragile is nothing more than a slightly better than average ghost story about a vengeful spirit & little else. Fragile goes for atmosphere & a long sustained build-up rather than flashy effects & novelty kills, some may like it's leisurely pace & get into the story & it's character's & while I thought it was reasonably watchable & modestly effective nothing impressed me that much. The story is your typical vengeful spirit one, the whole angle about people seeing ghost's if themselves are about to die is contradicted at the end & the emotional core of the Fragile which is undoubtedly the relationship between night nurse Amy & terminally ill Maggie didn't move me that much, or at least as much as it maybe should have done. At just under an hour & forty minutes it seemed longer to me, again there's a lot of build-up which is competently done & acted but I must admit I just started to lose interest. The explanations behind the haunting & ghost's in general are vague & offer nothing new over what has been suggested before, while I can't say I hated Fragile as it's well made & tells a reasonable story at it's own pace I never really got into it & I was never enthralled or gripped or that interested in anything that going on. An OK supernatural ghost story but far from special.

Fragile is certainly stylishly made with sterile colours & good use of dimly lit hospital corridors, I am sure the intention was to build the suspense & tension during the first half & then go for all out thrills & chills during the second half but again I just never got that into it or the story. There's no real gore, someone's leg is impaled on a pipe & a deformed ghost is show's up but Fragile is more about atmosphere & low keys thrills than all out horror & cheap scares although the last twenty minutes does feel a little like that with a hospital crumbling around various people & a ghost showing up. Apparently edited in the US to get a lower rating the uncut version has a few swear words & a bit of gore but nothing that significantly alters the film.

Filmed mainly in Spain with a Spanish crew it's surprising it was shot in English, it's well made for sure but I doubt I will remember much about it in a week or two. The acting is good from a solid cast, one of very few feature film appearances from TV star Flockhart while Richard Roxburgh turns up in a supporting role.

Fragile is a film that requires patience & is alright if your looking for a slow moving ghost story but don't expect some sort of masterpiece as it's fairly predictable & I didn't think there was anything new here at all. Not a bad film at all but just not a great one either.

Much better than Darkness

[james_corck3 · 7/10 · 27 May 2006]

Darkness (Balaguero's movie before this one) had a very basic plot. This is to shot 54673 frames (some for them in white) to the viewer so he or she can get scared.

Not succeed. Like in Matrix nobody accepted that (old) idea and then he decided to move to another ground. This is, the classic modern horror movie.

Fragile is a horror movie that moves the heart and gives cold sweat with very evoking images, rocking music and shocking scares. Calista Flockhart is even doing something with her performance, but the little girl and Richard Roxburgh really buy the movie. What could had been a stupid remake of another Japanese movie in the hands of the wrong director, it turned into a beautiful story about weakness and love.

Or just that my silly opinion.

Fragile, brittle and flimsy

[hairypigg · 1/10 · 25 March 2016]

I have just finished this film and I have specially made an account to warn people away from this dishevelled mess of a film. Frankly I am astonished by the many positive reviews this film has received. Horror is my favourite genre and normally I am more than willing to sit through a film even if it is not that great, but I have to say that this is without a doubt one of the worst horror films I have ever seen. The story line is dull and incredibly unoriginal, the characters are bland and completely devoid of personality. If I save just one person from watching this drivel I will be happy. Please, please do yourself a favour and save yourself the time and effort, watch something else.

When I thought movies wouldn't scare me anymore... came this.

[EvaSalvi · 8/10 · 26 January 2006]

What could I say about "Fragile"? Well... it was a rainy evening in my town (totally true, not to give effects), and instead of going to the town party I decided to go to the cinema. I had a good idea because I've always admired Balagueró (Los Sin Nombre... great), and I love horror films too, but, like I've said, I had seen three horror movies before and none of them really frightened me. So I got to the cinema and waited for it to start. The atmosphere is very good, it seems they worked a lot to make it, but not only the atmosphere was right like in other films, the story is convincing too, not just "killing-screaming-the end". It starts about a nurse who goes to work in a hospital in an English island. The hospital is about to be closed and the few children who are still there are supposed to be out of there soon. But it's not as easy as it seems, strange things happen in that hospital, one of the girls see somebody who lived and died there, and that "somebody" hurts the kids, by breaking their bones most of the times. The real interest is in what is behind that story, who is that somebody, and why he or she behaves like that. The acting is correct, Elena Anaya, Richard Roxburgh (finally a good role for him!), Calista Flockhart and the kids work efficiently. And most... I'd never been so frightened for a long time. I think that good stories are that which scare me. The same happened with "The Changeling" (somehow similar, somehow different). But worth seeing both of them. I recommend it.

Frágiles

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 22 October 2010]

Supernatural spookshow from director Jaume Balagueró has Calista Flockhart as a newly hired night nurse, Amy Nicholls, to a children's hospital in England, who discovers something sinister which lives on the abandoned second floor. The hospital is about to close it's doors and Amy is hired to help the staff prepare for the removal for the rest of the patients, among other duties, replacing another who could no longer cope with the "mechanical girl" the children go on and on about. Maggie(Yasmin Murphy)is an orphan patient with cystic fibrosis who informs Amy about Charlotte, the ghost that haunts the upper floor, and was deeply cared for by the nurse she replaced, Susan. Susan is returning to the hospital when her car crashes, killing her. The series of events, such as a little boy named Simon, suffering a double fracture, the cause not so easily explained, and a mysterious mishap when an elevator goes haywire, could be related to "the mechanical girl", and as Amy digs into Charlotte's past, she is convinced that Maggie and the other children will be in danger if they are not removed from the building, the premises, altogether. The hospital is coming apart, as fragile as Charlotte was in life, cracks in the crumbling walls when she is enraged, and her power can kill, paranormal activity quite present even if the other members of the staff try to deny her presence. As explained by Robert Marcus(Richard Roxburgh), the night doctor, Charlotte suffered from "brittle bone disease", osteogenesis imperfecta, and so this agonizing existence continues after her painful demise..and in her rage, she wants others to suffer as she did as well. With the simply gorgeous Elena Anaya as Amy's fellow nurse, Helen, Gemma Jones as Mrs. Folder, the hospital administrator, and Colin McFarlane as Roy, who is assisting in the moving of objects and personnel. Murphy is a doll and Flockhart imbues her character with a sense of tragedy and sadness, haunted by an incident from the past which motivates her to do whatever she can to help see that Maggie escapes the hospital unharmed. The ending literally has the hospital falling apart with Amy trying to guide Maggie out of the clutches of Charlotte as her volcanic anger ruptures the very foundation of the building, its walls and floors.

Lame, boring AND dishonest

[marco70 · 3/10 · 24 March 2007]

Quickly said: the premise and unfolding of the story is predictable, even if it tries not to be. The setting, a soon-to-be-closed hospital built in a remote and difficult to be reached island, is really nothing new. And, good as she is in this movie, one has to wonder what Calista Flockhart is doing in a Spanish production. But the worst thing of all is that in the final act the movie unforgivably cheats on the audience: without spoiling it at all, during the plot, a rule have been set quite clearly. But in the end, for no apparent reason other than to give to movie a happy ending, the rule is subverted. Should the screenwriter (or the director) have been brave enough to drive the movie to its logical conclusion, it would have been much more interesting and much less annoying.

A Gool Old-fashioned Ghost Story: 'Life is a journey between this world and the world beyond!'

[gradyharp · 7 August 2011]

FRAGILE (Fràgiles) is a terrific dark scary creepy atmospheric intelligent ghost story. Made in 2005 and released as an episode film in the Fangoria Frightfest, this decent film was overlooked in the theaters but deserves more attention now that it is available on DVD - allowing it to be viewed in the safety of the home! The story is written by Jordi Galceran and writer/director Jaume Balagueró who demonstrate a rather sophisticated knowledge of a little known malady called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a genetic disorder that makes the bones very brittle and easily (and frequently) broken.

The story begins on a foggy dark night as temp nurse Amy Nicholls (Calista Flockhart) steps off the ferry onto an island to fill in for a children's hospital that has been condemned but must keep one floor open until the island's other hospital recovers form over crowding following a significant accident. She is met by the kindly Roy (Colin McFarlane) who escorts her to the dilapidated hospital where the administrator Mrs. Folder (Gemma Jones) takes her on a tour, explaining that the second floor is sealed and has been for some years, and introduces her to the day nurse Helen Perez (Elena Anaya) who in turn introduces Amy to the eight children, all with significant illnesses, who will be under her care. There is one child - Maggie (Yasmin Murphy) who keeps to herself and is obviously terrified, her closest friend had been the nurse Amy is replacing. Amy and Maggie bond and this bond serves as the thread that opens the doors to the terrifying mysteries of the hospital. Noises are heard after lights out and Amy gradually learns form Maggie about the 'mechanical girl' who somehow influences the activities of the hospital. There is a doctor assigned to Amy's ward - Dr. Robert Marcus (Richard Roxburgh) - who assists Amy and the children. But Amy must find out if the fears Maggie has are founded and so she visits two old ladies (Freda Dowie and Matyelek Gibbs) who inform Amy of the story of one child and nurse who could be the connection tot he terror: the child had osteogenesis imperfecta and her ghost remains present in the hospital. Once Amy discovers this information she shares it with Dr. Marcus and the two face the decision as to how to manage the increasingly terrifying events at the hospital.

Calista Lockhart, the fine Australian actor Richard Roxburgh, the always excellent Gema Jones, and the surprising debut of young Yasmin Murphy make this film work. Their performances are top notch, and the cinematography by Xavi Giménez and the musical score by Roque Baños maintain an atmosphere of terror that is credible and keeps the audience on the edge of the seat. Give this little film a chance- it is much better than the other films in this series!

Grady Harp

Return to form for Balaguero

[Prof-Hieronymos-Grost · 7/10 · 19 January 2009]

On an island off the coast of the British mainland, a remote children's hospital is preparing to close its doors for the last time. Short of staff, the hospital employs an agency nurse Amy Nicholls to work the night shift for the hospitals last few days. Her job is to care for the 8 remaining children. She immediately senses things are not right with the children, they seem to be in fear of something and its not long before odd things begin to happen and unearthly noises from the boarded up second floor begin to send shivers down her spine. She forms a bond with one young girl Maggie, who tells her the strange goings on are down to Charlotte, a mechanical girl. Amy also questions why her predecessor left the job, knowing full well the answer must be these terrifying events that seem to be being ignored by the other staff and management. Not getting the answers she wants, Amy then decides to contact her predecessor Susan herself but finds out she has just died, Susan's parish priest points her in the way of two old clairvoyants to whom Susan had been her conveying her fears. They tell her that only those close to death can see this spectral Charlotte. Amy returns to the hospital and tries to dig up the hospitals dark hidden secrets.

I was a little apprehensive going into this one, after the disappointment of Balaguero's Darkness and also being neither a fan of Calista Flockhart or the always overblown Richard Roxburgh, but they were both fine here and Balaguero succeeds in providing some decent scares, even if he again gives away too much too early. Fragile to me felt more like an Asian Horror than a Spanish one, the ghostly apparition especially. Still though, a good atmosphere is created, especially in the lonely darkened hospital corridors and one expects something to happen at any moment.

Not bad, not great, but not bad

[jillwk · 6/10 · 9 April 2007]

It was not bad as far as ghost stories goes. Not exceptionally scary although Charlotte is pretty grotesque looking. The atmosphere in and around the hospital was sufficiently spooky and the leading characters were engaging enough. I wasn't keen on the scene when Calista was on the second floor running down the hallway with Maggie and the corridor was crumbling around her. It was a bit overdone, and almost felt like the director was trying for a cheap thrill. I think in ghost movies you can get maximum scare out of much less. There aren't a lot of great ghost story movies out there so beggars can't be choosers. It was watchable and much better than I thought it was going to be. It is considerably better than the Darkness.

A Classy Horror Movie!

[Mr_Saxon · 6/10 · 28 October 2007]

American nurse Amy Nicholls (Calista Flockhart) arrives at a British hospital that is in the process of closing down. Escaping from her past, Amy hopes that she will find some sort of peace supervising the remaining children during the night shift. Amongst the children, Amy finds herself bonding with a young girl named Maggie (Yasmin Murphy) who tells her about 'Charlotte'. When Amy asks about Charlotte, Maggie replies 'She's different'. Following this, Amy begins to sense something is wrong with the hospital. There are strange noises in the walls and mysterious messages appearing in the children's building blocks....

Although Fragile isn't really that terrifying, it certainly is a classy looking movie. Every camera shot is beautifully framed and the soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous. Calista Flockhart isn't given a lot to do but she manages admirably with her character's few dramatic scenes. Richard Roxburgh provides solid support in the form of a doctor at the hospital and possible love interest.

Be warned that this is a very slow moving movie. If you're looking for the appearance of horrific monsters every few minutes or pools of blood then this isn't really the movie for you. The plot takes its time to create an atmosphere and it's only in the final third of the movie that Fragile lays all of its cards upon the table. I should mention that the spirit haunting the hospital is impressive and its design was quite unique. I also enjoyed learning about its backstory when it was finally revealed.

Some here on IMDb have compared Fragile to Japanese horror movies but I think that The Devil's Backbone is a much better comparison (and probably a better movie altogether). However, if you've seen and enjoyed that movie or are looking for a horror movie written for adults rather than teens then I'd certainly recommend taking a look at Fragile. It'll be time well spent.

Too slow but creepy enough to entertain

[neil-upto11 · 6/10 · 20 December 2010]

It's just too darn slow. The first 60 minutes bump along with just a vague notion that 'something's up at the hospital'.

The film borrows heavily from some basic themes in Japanese horror stories and, as a result, does alright: even going so far as presenting children in serious distress which is pretty bold for a non-Japanese movie.

Flockhart is adequate but it's always a bit cringeworthy when an American is crowbarred into a British/European cast for commercial reasons.

All in all, not brilliant but a few decent chills.

sigh....another awful one...

[jazzamind · 1/10 · 25 December 2006]

There is so much wrong with this one,I almost have no idea where to start...First of all, nice to see Calsista put on some weight again, and made the incredible transformation from a 35 kg bag of bones to a 50 kg bag of bones... Her acting is as weak as her figure; In this movie she switches between severely underacted scenes, to a panicky sort of over-acting. Her screams and fear come across as totally unrealistic. I simply do not believe her when she does the panicky-thing... The story is weak, and takes enormous leaps and leaves gaps that gave me the feeling they were either in a hurry to write the script or just could n't care less. Well writing good horror is not easy, and believe me, this one defeinately fall into that category. The moments that were supposed to be scary, I could see them coming from miles away, and I think the major flaw was in the delivery. No tension was built up anywhere, and when they made kind of a half-baked attempt, they just couldn't deliver. What they did succeed in though, was in delivering a constant stream of cliché after cliché. Another waste of my time...

Scary? Hahahah don't make me laugh...

A quite effective supernatural creepy abandoned building chiler

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 24 November 2019]

I'd seen this on the schedule a few times & bypassed it, thinking it would be another generic slasher flick - but, I happened to notice it about to start whilst channel hopping & gave it a shot.

Turns out, this Spanish/UK production is actually a quite effective supernatural, creepy (almost) abandoned building chiller. A children's hospital is about to shut it's doors & is in process of moving out the few remaining patients & skeleton staff, when a rush of casualties from a train crash fill the replacement hospital's wards - so, the nearly empty building lingers on in use for a little longer. But the effects of the train crash aren't the only thing that might be keeping the patients there...

The better part of the story relies on the sensible approach of slowly cranking up the tension with atmospheric events, caused by an unseen entity that only the young patients adamantly acknowledge the presence of. When the antagonist is finally revealed, it's actually a mild visual let-down, but was probably needed to pull together the final strands, heading into the story's climax. There's a nice little vignette in the final scene to look out for & a dedication in the credits, that I've yet to find the story behind...

Worth a watch & suspending disbelief for a couple of hours. Not gory, except for a couple of medical scenes that could throw those squeamish about such things.

Not very good

[celtic451-228-782719 · 1/10 · 5 July 2019]

I really wanted to like this but it just isn't that good. It's a slow moving mixed glob that doesn't really make any logical sense on so many fronts. CF is dead pan and uninteresting. Then she goes into these spasy panic attacks that don't even fit the scene. One of the worst scenes was when the for some unknown bizarre reason they had the old crusty nurse walk around with her breasts hanging out. Now I'm in hypno-therapy to try to get that image out of my mind. One the the dumbest scenes what when they were all panicked to get the children out of the hospital asap and all of a sudden CF decides to leave to go see the head nurse! What happened to the emergency to get the kids out? Very illogical and goofy.

Decent ghost story with few spooky moments n good atmosphere.

[Fella_shibby · 8/10 · 14 May 2021]

I first saw this in 2007 on a dvd which I own.

Revisited it recently.

I liked the movie cos it has plenty of atmosphere, few spooky scenes n a decent twist.

The movie's settings will remind us of The Shining, The Woman in Black, etc.

The performances are good but the end is a bit convenient.

I have enjoyed Jaume Balagueró's Rec series n Sleep Tight.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 28 April 2019]

On the Isle of Wright, Mary Falls Children Hospital is shutting down and moving to St. James...but not just yet. A freak train accident has caused over crowding at St. James. Meanwhile, strange things are going on at Mary Falls. Susan, the night time nurse gets spooked and quits her job. Ally McBeal (Calista Flockhart) from the US replaces her. She is very protective of the children especially one terminal case, Maggie (Yasmin Murphy) who talks to the "mechanical girl," a ghost named Charlotte. I liked her in this film.

The second floor of the hospital has been closed since 1959 and is the home to "things that go bump in the night."

The movie builds slowly. It utilizes a good sound track and gives you time to think and breathe in between the scary scenes. For some reason the heavy scare factor didn't weigh in as it should. A crippled ghost picky on kids in a hospital on an island. .

F-bombs, no sex, no nudity.

Fails to Scare; Fails to Pack any Punch At All...

[papurser79 · 4/10 · 9 December 2012]

Fragile had some potential, but the lack of explanation about come characters' back-history really detracted from this film. The ghost scenes were really not that scary, and the powers of the ghost to tear down the building were a little over the top.

Starting from the beginning... Calista Flockhart's acting was over the top; she was inexplicably rude and off-color with all other actors on screen, and the rest of the cast was too tolerant of her wild behaviors & tantrums.

Secondly, we get nothing of her past. Supposedly, she has a past of accidentally letting some child die on her last nursing job, and is now a self-loathing pill-popping mess, but we never find out the story.

Thirdly, the phenomenon happening in the hospital is pretty crazy, but once the full story is revealed by the film's end, the only word that came to my mind was "weak". Honestly, it's like the film maker was reaching for a powerful theme, but just... tried too hard. It wasn't a bad film, but I definitely think some of the reviews for this one are misleading. It was not really that scary at all. Yes, there was a ghost, yes she was evil, and yes she wasted people, but all in all, it was just sort of bland.

Some interesting characters and some good writing at points, but overall effect was just... bland. Lack-luster. I simply was not scared at all, and I'm not a particularly difficult movie-goer to please. In fact, I scare quite easily, but this one just failed to pack any punch.

It's not the worst ghost film I've ever seen; not by a long shot, but it left me wishing I'd made another selection that night from my Netflix line-up... Oh well. Better luck tomorrow night.