Frailty (2001 film)

Frailty is a 2001 American psychological horror film directed by and starring Bill Paxton, and co-starring Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe. It marks Paxton's directorial debut. The plot focuses on the strange relationship between two young brothers and their father, who believes that he has been commanded by God to kill demons disguised as people. Released on April 12, 2002, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $17 million.

Plot
In his office in Dallas, FBI Agent Wesley Doyle is visited by Fenton Meiks, who says his brother Adam is the culprit in the "God's Hand" serial killings. Fenton says Adam has committed suicide, prompting Fenton to fulfill a promise to bury his brother in a public rose garden in their hometown of Thurman, Texas. He begins to talk about his childhood and suggests the bodies of the God's Hand victims are buried in that garden.

While children in the summer of 1979, their father, a mechanic, told them he had been visited by an angel and tasked by God with "destroying" demons disguised as humans; a mission which must be kept secret. Their father "is led" to 3 tools: an axe, gloves and a pipe; he also receives a list of names from the angel. He incapacitates a woman (a nurse who supposedly kills her patients and robs them) with the pipe and brings her home. While laying his hand on her two things happen: first, he claims to see a vision of her evil; second, the "demon" is somehow incapacitated by their evil being revealed. Their father then kills her with the axe and makes the boys help him bury her body in the rose garden. Horrified, Fenton believes his father insane, but Adam claims to see the visions and supports their father.

After hearing this, Doyle drives Fenton to Thurman. On the way, Doyle says his mother had been murdered by someone who was never caught. Fenton then explains how they took the second victim (a supposed child molester) in broad daylight, with his father insisting God would blind any witnesses. One night, his father tells him he prayed for the angel to visit Fenton (for his lack of faith), but the angel instead visited him and told him something bad about Fenton. He makes Fenton dig a large hole in the back yard. While digging, Fenton refuses to wear gloves and abandons all faith in God. Their father makes the hole into a cellar and moves the shed on top of it.

During his father's third abduction, Fenton escapes from the cellar and runs to the sheriff who takes him back home. Noticing Fenton's fear, the sheriff looks in the cellar, but finds it empty. As he leaves, their father kills him with the axe. Their father is grief-stricken over having to kill an innocent man, and angry with Fenton for forcing him into it due to his lack of faith. After burying the body in the garden, Fenton's father says the angel told him that Fenton is a demon. To save him and encourage him to have faith, he locks Fenton in the cellar for over a week. Fenton claims to have been enlightened, and his father releases him to help carry out the next killing.

Fenton cooperates with his father to take the next victim (supposedly a man who has committed numerous acts of violence), but accidentally alerts him just before his father hits the man with the pipe. Their father is injured by the man, and they have to both beat him unconscious. In the cellar, his father gives Fenton the axe and tells him to destroy the demon. Fenton raises the axe and acts like he is about to strike the demon, but hits his father in the chest instead, killing him. Before dying, their father whispers something to Adam. Fenton tries to release the abducted man, but Adam kills him with the axe. While burying the two men, Fenton makes Adam promise to bury him in the garden if Adam ever "destroys" him.

Doyle is puzzled by his phrasing, since he said Adam killed himself. "Fenton" then reveals himself to actually be Adam. Adam killed Fenton, who had grown up to become the actual God's Hand serial killer, a man responsible for several unrelated murders not committed by Adam "destroying" demons. Doyle is horrified to see the number of graves in the garden. Adam did in fact share his father's visions, and their victims were actual demons. Adam had previously avoided touching Doyle, but now he lays his hands on him and reveals that Doyle was the one who murdered his own mother. An incapacitated Doyle asks how he knew, and Adam tells him that he was on his list. Doyle says people will come looking for him because he is an FBI agent, but Adam says that God will protect him; he then kills Doyle with the axe and buries him in the rose garden.

After Doyle's disappearance, Agent Griffin Hull, who has previously met with Adam, cannot seem to remember his face. The security tapes are also inexplicably obscured by static whenever Adam is in view. The FBI raid Fenton's house, finding the God's Hand list with Doyle's name on it, and Doyle's badge, which corroborate Fenton being the killer. At Thurman, Agent Hull visits Adam, who is actually the county sheriff, to tell him Fenton was the God's Hand killer. Upon shaking his hand, Adam tells Hull he is a good man. As Agent Hull leaves, Adam's pregnant wife asks if everything is ok; Adam tells her that everything is fine and God's will has been done.

Cast

 * Bill Paxton as Dad Meiks, Fenton and Adam's widower father
 * Matthew McConaughey as Adam Meiks / Fenton Meiks
 * Powers Boothe as FBI Agent Wesley Doyle
 * Matt O'Leary as Young Fenton, Adam's brother
 * Jeremy Sumpter as Young Adam, Fenton's brother
 * Luke Askew as Sheriff Smalls
 * Levi Kreis as Fenton Meiks
 * Derk Cheetwood as Agent Griffin Hull
 * Missy Crider as Becky Meiks (as Melissa Crider)
 * Alan Davidson as Brad White
 * Cynthia Ettinger as Cynthia Harbridge
 * Vincent Chase as Edward March
 * Gwen McGee as Operator
 * Edmond Scott Ratliff as The Angel
 * Rebecca Tilney as Teacher

Production
In October 2000, it was announced that Lions Gate Films would fully finance Bill Paxton's directorial debut, Frailty. The film at one point had been slated to be produced by Atlantic Streamline, but Atlantic's unwillingness to handle domestic rights in addition to foreign rights resulted in the deal never materializing. At the time, Frailty marked Lions Gate's largest investment in an in-house production.

Reception
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 75% of 155 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Creepy and disturbing, Frailty is well-crafted, low-key horror." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert in particular singled it out for praise, giving the film four out of four stars and declaring that "Frailty is an extraordinary work, concealing in its depths not only unexpected story turns but also implications, hidden at first, that make it even deeper and more sad."

Bloody Disgusting gave the film an 'Honorable Mention' in their list of the twenty best horror films of the 2000s, calling the film an "underrated gem [...] a small-scale, thought-provoking horror film that deserves a second look."

Box office
Frailty grossed $13.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $4.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $17.4 million.