Frágiles (2005)

At her new job in a rundown children's hospital, a nurse desperately tries to keep her patients safe from a plague of random, mysterious attacks.

Director:

Jaume Balagueró

Writers:

Jaume Balagueró, Jordi Galceran

Stars:

Calista Flockhart, Richard Roxburgh, Elena Anaya

7 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Calista Flockhart	...	Amy Nicholls
Richard Roxburgh	...	Robert Marcus
Elena Anaya	...	Helen Perez
Gemma Jones	...	Mrs. Folder
Yasmin Murphy	...	Maggie
Colin McFarlane	...	Roy
Michael Pennington	...	Marcus
Daniel Ortiz	...	Matt
Susie Trayling	...	Susan
Lloyd F. Booth Shankley	...	Simon
Michael Gatward	...	David
Scarlet Carey	...	Emma
Cameron Antrobus	...	Jimmy
Olivia Bjork	...	Linda
Fergus Riordan	...	Richard

Storyline

As the new night nurse at a soon to be abandoned children's hospital readies the last group of orphans to leave, it becomes increasingly clear that these are not normal children. Something living in the hospital, something the children call the "mechanical girl," has a terrifying hold over them and will stop at nothing to keep them in the hospital with her forever.

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | nurse | orphan | caucasian | white coat | 

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Taglines:

A Ghost Story

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of terror/violence, and some thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Filmax

Country:

Spain UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 2005 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Fragile

Filming Locations:

Reading, Berkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

€7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€801,331 (Spain), 30 October 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castelao Producciones,Future Films,Just Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Jaume Balaguero' came up with the idea for the story after seeing an early 20th century medical photo of a young girl with osteogenesis imperfecta.

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Goofs

At the end of the movie, Robert takes unconscious Amy out of the hospital. The cardiac monitor shows absence of cardiac electrical activity, i.e. asystole. Asystole is a type of cardiac arrest classified as "non shockable rhythm" and its initial management exclude the use of defibrillation. They should have started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) maneuvers instead. Furthermore, when an electrical shock is delivered, a typical waveform should have appeared in the monitor.

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Connections

Features Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

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Soundtracks

Two (Vaya Con Dios)
performed by Ill Nino

User Reviews

The Mechanical Girl.

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