Frágiles (2005)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Jaume Balagueró

Writers:

Jaume Balagueró (writer)
Jordi Galcerán (writer)

Release Date:

14 October 2005 (Spain)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror

Plot:

At her new job in a rundown children's hospital, a nurse (Flockhart) desperately tries to keep her patients safe from a plague of random, mysterious attacks.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Nurse | Orphan | Brittle Bones | Nurse Patient Relationship

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Calista Flockhart	...	Amy Nicholls
Richard Roxburgh	...	Robert Marcus
Elena Anaya	...	Helen Perez
Gemma Jones	...	Mrs. Folder
Yasmin Murphy	...	Maggie
Colin McFarlane	...	Roy
Michael Pennington	...	Marcus
Daniel Ortiz	...	Matt
Susie Trayling	...	Susan
Lloyd F. Booth Shankley	...	Simon
Michael Gatward	...	David
Scarlet Carey	...	Emma
Cameron Antrobus	...	Jimmy
Olivia Bjork	...	Linda
Fergus Riordan	...	Richard

Also Known As:

Fragile (International: English title)
Fragile: A Ghost Story (Philippines: English title) (poster title)
Frágil (Venezuela) [es]
Från andra sidan (Sweden) [sv]
Fragile (France) [fr]
Fragile (Norway) [no]
Fragile - A Ghost Story (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Fragile - pahuuden ovi (Finland) [fi]
Kikai-jikake no shôni byôtô (Japan) [ja]
Kirilgan (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Mercy Falls - Geisterwache (Germany) (TV title) [de]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of terror/violence, and some thematic elements.

Runtime:

93 min | Japan:102 min | Argentina:93 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Hungary:16 | Netherlands:16 | USA:PG-13 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 (DVD rating) | Norway:15 (TV rating) | Germany:16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Castelao Producciones

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of the movie, Robert takes unconscious Amy out of the hospital. The cardiac monitor shows absence of cardiac electrical activity, i.e. asystole. Asystole is a type of cardiac arrest classified as "non shockable rhythm" and its initial management exclude the use of defibrillation. They should have started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) maneuvers instead. Furthermore, when an electrical shock is delivered, a typical waveform should have appeared in the monitor.

Movie Connections:

Features Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

A Love Kiss

In Wight Island, Amy Nicholls (Calista Flockhart) arrives in the old Mercy Falls Children Hospital to work as night nurse as replacement of the former nurse Susan. The hospital is in a deactivation process, with the patients being transferred to Saint James Hospital; however, due to a train crash, the closing process has been postponed. Amy is introduced to eight children with lung cases by the nurse Helen Perez (Elena Anaya), and she feels a sort of attraction for the terminal girl Maggie (Yasmin Murphy). Maggie likes to play with some letter blocks to talk with the "mechanical girl" called Charlotte that would live upstairs, in an abandoned floor. Amy asks about Charlotte to her coworkers and they explain that she is an urban legend and the Maggie is making up her existence. But sooner they find that the children can not be transferred to Saint James since there is something evil that wants to keep them near.

"Frágiles" has a good ghost story based on the existence of lost souls that would stay in the world of the living, close to what they love. The old women explain to Amy that "it is not where they died or lived; they simply stay near what they loved, and that is what keeps them here but nothing else." The viewer needs "to buy" this concept to enjoy and understand this scary and dramatic film, the same way for example in "The Grudge" ("the curse that is born from someone dying in a powerful rage") or "The Ring" ("the viewer will die seven days after watching a videotape"), just to mention two recent successful Asian movies. This movie is well directed, the cast has great performances, and there are frightening moments along the story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Terror em Mercy Falls" ("Terror in Mercy Falls")