In this work, the mechanical behavior of hard films on soft substrates was studied based on the finite element analysis of an indentation with normal forces. As an attempt to reproduce situations found in practice, defects were considered during the preparation of the finite element mesh, both in the film and at the interface. A sequence of steps was considered during the loading sequence applied in the models. Initially, the deposition (intrinsic) and thermal (extrinsic) stresses were introduced to account for all residual stresses present in thin films deposited by processes such as sputtering. Later, a normal load of 50 N was applied on the pre-stressed system. The effects of a crack that propagated along the film/substrate interface was studied directly, by calculating the normal and shcar stresses that develop at the film surface and the film/substrate interface, and indirectly, by looking at the behavior of cracks located at the film surface and propagating perpendicular to the interface. The results indicated that the suppression of the constraint imposed by the interface resulted in a decrease in the stresses in the film. However, the crack at the interface apparently did not interact with the stresses responsible for the array of circular cracks usually observed at the contact edge of the indentation of coated systems with soft substrates.