Dakota Fanning on Vicious' Brutal But Hopeful Ending

Warning: SPOILERS forward for Vicious (2025)!Vicious star Dakota Fanning has acknowledged the horror film’s brutal ending nonetheless holds a spark of hope, breaking down the which means behind its remaining act. Written and directed by The Strangers creator Bryan Bertino, Vicious follows Fanning’s Polly, who should sacrifice one thing she hates, wants, and likes to a supernatural field to forestall her demise that very same evening.

After she manages to appease Vicious‘ mysterious box, she has to cross it on to another person. She finally ends up giving it to her neighbor, Tara (Devyn Nekoda), who finally ends up killing her dad and mom with a view to save her personal life. The movie ends with the cellphone in Polly’s dwelling ringing, an ominous cliffhanger according to the movie’s tone.

In an interview with ScreenRant, nonetheless, Fanning defined how there’s some hope on the finish of Vicious regardless of its darkish ending. The actor defined how, regardless of the hopelessness the field feeds off of and the terrifying ending, Polly’s journey is a testomony to how a lot folks can undergo whereas nonetheless popping out alive on the opposite facet:

ScreenRant: Brian’s referred to as Vicious one in every of his most optimistic endings that he is executed, although Pauly’s left scarred. There is a little bit of empowerment as a result of Ply does not die, and it isn’t absolutely pessimistic. However how did you interpret her survival?

Dakota Fanning: It is like I interpreted it as… what you want, we’re a lot stronger than we expect, proper? Like, we do not give ourselves sufficient credit score for the issues that we will undergo, and possibly we do not need to need to undergo them, however like we’re people, we’re more durable than we give ourselves credit score for. And so I feel Polly is stronger than she ever gave herself credit score for. And so, I suppose there’s a slight little bit of hopefulness, as a lot as a Bertino film can have, I suppose there’s a slight bit.

Dakota Fanning's Polly looking worried while laying in the street in Vicious — Dakota Fanning’s Polly wanting anxious whereas laying on the street in Vicious

Vicious is Fanning’s second supernatural horror film in a row, having beforehand starred in Ishana Night time Shyamalan’s directorial debut The Watchers. Her position within the Bertino movie is way totally different, although, as her wrestle for survival just isn’t just one towards sure demise, however one which places loads of different folks at risk within the course of.

Fanning’s assertion speaks to the psychological terror Polly goes by over the course of the film. The field makes use of ghostly apparitions of individuals she cares about to push her into making her sacrifices, whereas the specter of demise continuously hangs over her head. Like different Bertino horror movies, this darkness is ever-present and encroaching all through the movie.

She’s additionally pressured to make the troublesome selection of passing the field onto Tara if she desires to outlive, an act that does not appear to place her in any much less hazard. But she fights to remain alive greater than something. Whereas the battle leads to a darkish ending, it is one which emphasizes her wrestle towards one thing she does not absolutely perceive.

Whereas the film’s presentation is extra supernatural than Bertino’s The Strangers films, it displays the director’s knack for crafting terrifying tales that readily discover the darker facet of humanity. Whereas there is a dreariness to the ending of Vicious as a result of Polly’s issues are not over, her striving by them does supply a semblance of hope at nighttime.