Oh direct-to-video thrillers, where would this site be without you? Minus a bunch of reviews, I guess. For another entry in this genre, we go to 2022’s Shattered.

One night wealthy divorcée Chris Decker (Cameron Monaghan) meets sexy, bubbly Sky (Lilly Krug). The pair embark on a passionate relationship.

When a car thief (Dat Phan) injures Chris, Sky agrees to nurse him back o health. However, Sky brings an ulterior motive as well, one that places Chris in perilous circumstances.

As noted at the start, direct-to-video thrillers show up on my door pretty frequently, most of which star Bruce Willis. He fails to appear here, though at least we find another bald-headed icon via John Malkovich as a sleazy motel owner.

However, another actor attracted me to Shattered: Monaghan. So effective as the proto-Joker in TV’s Gotham, I felt curious to see what he could do as a lead.

In the case of Shattered, the answer becomes “not much”, though I don’t blame the actor. Chris offers a pretty bland role, so Monaghan doesn’t get much room to shine.

On the other hand, Krug fares quite well as the slippery sociopath Sky. She plays the role as adorable and charming when necessary but gives the part a nutty sense of cheerful menace when matters turn.

Honestly, Krug becomes by far the best aspect of Shattered, mainly because her chipper turn on her character allows us to look past some of the movie’s many lapses of logic. We buy into Sky’s charismatic insanity so much that we don’t mind the more ridiculous moments.

Unfortunately, beyond Krug’s gleeful psychopath, Shattered doesn’t offer much that stretches beyond the usual confines of the thriller genre. When Sky’s nefarious plan starts to unfurl, the movie shows promise, but before long, it starts to feel more by the numbers and less compelling.

Still, as far as direct-to-video thrillers go, Shattered fares better than most. Buoyed by a solid turn from our lead antagonist, this winds up as a spotty but moderately engaging tale.

Shattered appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a strong presentation.

Overall, sharpness seemed very good. Only minor softness materialized during some interiors, so the film largely appeared accurate and concise.

Jagged edges and moiré effects didn’t mar the presentation, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to appear.

In terms of palette, Shattered went with a fairly teal orientation. Some moments of amber/orange appeared as well, and we found splashes of other hues on occasion. Within stylistic choices, the hues seemed well-depicted.

Blacks were dark and dense, and low-light shots gave us good clarity. I felt pleased with this solid transfer.

Similar thoughts greeted the fairly good DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Shattered, as the soundfield mostly delivered a mix heavy on atmosphere. Environmental noises cropped up in the side and rear speakers, and a few action moments added to the track. Those elements created a nice sense of place and added impact to the material.

Audio quality satisfied. Speech sounded crisp and distinctive, and music appeared robust and full.

Effects were accurate and dynamic, while low-end response showed good warmth and richness. Nothing here dazzled, but the audio merited a “B”.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a featurette called Mischief in the Mountains. It goes for nine minutes, 57 seconds and offers comments from director Luis Prieto and actors John Malkovich, Frank Grillo, Sasha Luss, and Lilly Krug.

“Mischief” provides info about story/characters as well as cast and performances, locations and crew. This becomes little more than promotional fodder.

As far as direct-to-video thrillers go, Shattered stands as above average. Granted, given the standards of the genre, that feels like a low bar, but this still becomes a moderately engaging piece of violent drama. The Blu-ray brings good picture and audio along with minor bonus materials. Don’t expect greatness from Shattered, but it largely satisfies.