Fraility (major spoilers not covered)

Cafe Society
1

I rented this movie with a friend a couple of days ago, and very much enjoyed it. However, reading it up online, I’m surprised by one thing about most critics’ reactions; they seem to believe that the movie definitely, by the end, showed us that there were in fact demons and that Adam and Dad were demon-killers.

I think that’s definitely one possible way of looking at it, but I don’t think it was that cut-and-dried. We only ever see the visions from Adam’s point of view, which makes them highly subjective. The sheriff he kills seems to be saying ‘How did you…’ as Adam touches him, but he might not be referring to his supposed murder of his mother at all (“How did you break free?” “How did you know where the handcuff keys were?” How come you’re such a psycho?").

The other evidence is strong, but I think still leaves the film ambiguous. Fenton almost certainly a serial killer, but that doesn’t mean he was a demon -we saw his extremely troubled upbringing and growing nihilism, which could easily have pushed him over the edge. The video camera going fuzzy is eerie, but could just be random chance, or even evidence of some kind of conspiracy of crazy “demon-hunters” in the police force.

There’s also theological considerations. Would a loving God inflict such pain and responsibility on an ordinary family? Of course, it’s strongly implied that we’re talking more about a fire-and-brimstone, Old Testament type God anyway, so maybe that point’s not as strong.

Now, I’m not saying that the film is completely and indisputably just about a family (and maybe conspiracy) of crazy serial killers; there’s far too much evidence for demons actually existing within the film. But I am saying that I think the ending is deliberately ambiguous, and we can’t be totally sure one way or the other.

Any thoughts?

2

I saw the ending as twist upon twist upon twist upon twist until I just didn’t understand (or care) what the hell was going on anymore. Too bad, because the ending killed what was, up until the 70-minute mark, a fascinating and deeply disturbing movie.

3

I think the movie is deliberately ambiguous about Adam’s “mission”, whether divinely mandated or paternally induced. The same way it’s left up to the audience about the father’s “vision”: was it a message from God or the Angel of Death or whatever, or was it a really vivid dream? Many people would say that the two are indistinguishable from each other unless an unbiased third party witnessed the “message”, which would be nigh impossible in either case.

So then we come to the conclusion: Does it really matter? What if some people in Adam’s world really believed he was on a divine mission and could see demons? Would they interfere with his actions, even if his target was a loved family member? I’m thinking yes indeedy. Even at the command of a deity, murder is not a course of action most sane humans could bring themselves to, especially if the victim has no relationship with the murderer.

4

I kept remembering how Little Adam wanted to add his enemies names to the list of “demons”, which made me wonder about how accurate his later calling was. I also wondered if the agent’s body was the only one he’d planted in Fenton’s house. It could definitely go either way (and the pregnancy with a third generation was a cool touch).

5

If you watch the DVD extras, the writer says that God was indeed ordering them to kill.