MovieChat Forums > Frailty (2002) Discussion > THAT ending

THAT ending

posted 8 years ago by the_holy_ferret-126-91027
5 replies | jump to latest

I re-watched this recently, for the first time since seing it at the cinema. I was a teenager when I first saw it and my interpretation of it at the time was 'a good critique of blind faith let down by a silly ending.'

Looking back on it though, it stilk works as a critique of blind faith. When God is shown to be real, the film doesn't go to any lengths to justify God's demands. It doesn't explain which God he is, why he has anything against demons, what the demons have to say about anything. You have to take it all on blind faith that God is just in actions that are absokytely fascistic.

I don't see anything in the film that suggests that God is meant to be respected. So the film kinda ups it's criticism of faith and unjustified authority from a matetialist perspective to a more meta-physical one. It's still basically coming at it from an anarchist point-of-view though.

[–] xxxphilbluntxxx 7 years ago

Just to start off, I myself am not religious; I just wanted to make that clear so that u don't think I'm trying to defend religion itself, just that in this movie it is meant to be real. At the end it flashes all the bad things the "demons" did, which justified why God wanted them killed. Now that in itself doesn't prove it's real, bc the father and younger son could just be crazy, but the tapes at FBI headquarters all being messed up to not show the grown up Adam's face and the fact that the younger FBI agent can't remember his face or even recognize him in person when he meets them at the end suggest to me that the viewer is meant to take it as that they were not crazy, but in fact "invisible" and "protected by God" when hunting and killing the "demons".

[–] funkybuttlover 7 years ago

That's exactly how we took it.

[–] NZer (161) 7 years ago

Me too!

[–] Starduster (268) 5 years ago

YES this is what it leaves us with.
Bottom line, its a fictional movie.
As such it ignores certain rules and points of logic. Things dont work this way in real life. IF they did, it is unlikely to be God that is at work here. Evil is a great deceiver.

[–] Starduster (268) 5 years ago

An interesting interpretation!
It brings to mind the following Commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"
What he saw was NOT God. He called it an Angel.
However, one SHOULD question the logic of committing illegal acts in the name of God.
What God would command this?
Lets present a different scenario. What if a priest or minister or other clergy were to receive a message from God to kill "destroy" certain members of his congregation (or otherwise). What should he do?
I have to eat my words here. I guess there was one in Ohio that did that. Killed the family and buried them in a barn. They were not Demons that anyone knew of. But HE was
Most religions teach to pray for forgiveness. Atone for ones sins. I dont know of any where the clergy person would kill anyone; particularly in a horrific manner or involve children in the process.
Even religious figures would not do such things on "blind faith"...... at least none that I can think of. Ohio case excluded.