Fragment (2024)

A distant view of a densely packed residential neighborhood. Suddenly, a scream is heard from somewhere. After this intriguing opening scene, we see a middle school boy and his younger sister, an elementary school girl, getting ready for school in a messy house with no adults around. In another house in the village, a high school boy is living alone in a desolate home. Fragment follows the children of both the perpetrator and the victim, left alone in the world after a murder claimed their parents. The film breathlessly alternates between their lives, highlighting the contradictory and brutal existence they’ve been burdened with. Both sides evoke pity and sorrow, and as we switch between them, we are swept up in a torrent of emotions. Embracing unbearable misfortune, these seemingly incompatible, vulnerable souls endure their lonely nights, and then, a kind of miracle happens.