The Tracey Fragments

Movie / Show Details

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Teen angst is amped up by a nuanced performance by a pre-Juno Ellen Page in The Tracey Fragments. “Look, the other day, something happened. I came to certain realizations,” says Tracey Berkowitz, played with deadpan heartbreak by Page, huddled on a late-night bus near the beginning of the film. “I can’t tell you what or you’ll end up like me, on this bus, looking for someone.” The scene signals a rocky ride, and the film–a portrait of an outcast Canadian teen struggling with bullies, clueless parents, unrequited love, and her place in the world–is wrenching and challenging. Director Bruce McDonald has taken the “fragments” of the title literally, and so the film is presented in several simultaneous screen shots at a time; rarely in its duration is there simply one scene to watch, as though all the different facets of Tracey are playing out at once. Which, of course, they are.
Tracey is hassled at school, dismissed as an “it” for being flat-chested, and treated as invisible by her parents and even her therapist. Only when something dire happens may have been her responsibility does the rest of the world turn its judgmental focus on her. Tracey begins a quest to leave her old life behind and try to redeem herself–find and honor who she really is–in the process. And the film somewhat brutally takes the reader along for the ride. “How do you know what’s real and not real when the whole world is inside your head?” Tracey muses on one of the buses she takes into the night. It’s as perfect, and painful, a depiction of adolescence as any film in recent memory. –A.T. Hurley

Product Description

Ellen Page delivers an extraordinary performance as a feisty, independent-minded teenager with a unique view of the world.