| Frailty | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster for Frailty |
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| Directed by | Bill Paxton |
| Produced by | David Blocker David Kirschner Corey Sienega |
| Written by | Brent Hanley |
| Starring | Bill Paxton Matthew McConaughey Powers Boothe Matt O'Leary Jeremy Sumpter |
| Music by | Brian Tyler |
| Cinematography | Bill Butler |
| Editing by | Arnold Glassman |
| Studio | David Kirschner Productions Cinerenta Cinedelta |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
| Release date(s) | April 12, 2002 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $11,000,000 |
| Box office | $17,423,030[1] |
Frailty is a 2002 psychological thriller film directed by and starring Bill Paxton, and co-starring Matthew McConaughey. This film is the directorial debut for Paxton. The plot focuses on the strange relationship between two young boys and their father, who believes that he has been commanded by God to kill demons. The film was produced by David Kirschner.
Contents |
A man (McConaughey) enters the Dallas, Texas FBI office one rainy night, and introduces himself as Fenton Meiks. He wants to speak to Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) about his belief that his brother Adam (Levi Kreis) is the notorious "God's Hand" serial killer.
Fenton explains that he is only coming forward at this time because earlier that day, before committing suicide, Adam had called him to say that he cannot stop the "demons" because there are too many of them. Fenton claims to have stolen and buried Adam's body at the Thurman Rose Garden, according to a pact the brothers made as children many years ago. Doyle is skeptical, and Fenton unfolds through flashback the story of their childhood with their widower father (Paxton)...
One night many years ago, their father tells them that they have been tasked by God to root out and destroy demons whose names were to be provided for him by an angel. To assist him in his "crusade", he has been provided with special tools: gloves to protect his hands from "revealing" the supposed demons' crimes until "justice" was to be administered, a lead pipe to knock the demons unconscious, and an axe named 'Otis' to "destroy" them. Fenton goes into denial, refusing to believe their father would actually murder people, but Adam quickly believes their father to be doing God's work. Their father also tells them that God will protect them from being caught by the authorities.
Their father captures his first victim, a woman named Cynthia Harbridge (Cynthia Ettinger). When he touches her, he claims to "see" the sins she has committed, and feels no guilt when he uses Otis to "destroy" her. Both Fenton and Adam are forced to witness this act; Fenton is horrified, but Adam claims he can "see" the woman's sins as well. They bury her outdoors in the Thurman Rose Garden, which is adjacent to the Meiks house. Fenton tries to explain to Adam that their father has gone insane, but Adam genuinely believes that they are on a righteous crusade, leading Fenton to conclude that his brother has been brainwashed. Their father soon kidnaps a second victim, a man he claims to be a child murderer, and enlists Fenton's help in the kidnapping.
After their father kidnaps a third victim and orders Fenton to "destroy" the man, Fenton flees in horror and informs the town sheriff (Luke Askew) of the crime, but after he brings Fenton back to the Meiks home, Fenton's father kills the sheriff with the axe. Fenton's father is aghast, believing the act to be "murder" unlike the first two killings, and blames Fenton for forcing him to commit the crime. The father confesses that the angel told him that Fenton is also a demon who must be slain, which his father refuses to believe. Fenton begs for mercy, and his father locks him in the cellar. Fenton is confined to the cellar for over a week, nearly starving to death, until he has a "vision of God" and says he understands what he must do. Overjoyed, his father releases him from the makeshift prison.
Fenton, Adam and their father track down and capture another supposed demon. This time, Fenton is given Otis to decapitate the man, but he instead kills his own father by driving the axe into his heart. As Fenton moves to release the captured man, Adam grabs the axe and slays the "demon", as Adam apparently wants to continue the "crusade".
Agent Doyle is convinced that Fenton's story has weight, and drives him to the Thurman Rose Garden, where Adam would surely have buried his victims. Once they arrive, it is revealed that the man who has been calling himself "Fenton" is actually Adam. However, the "God's Hand" killer is the real Fenton, who kept the bodies of his victims as trophies in his basement. Fenton used the "God's Hand" nickname to lure Adam out of the shadows, knowing that his brother would have to kill him one day in order to fulfill the task their father could not complete. Fenton has been buried in the Rose Garden, along with the several demons Adam "destroyed" over the years. It is also revealed that all of the "demons" killed by their father were in fact murderers, and when their father touched them, he actually had visions of their crimes.
Adam also explains that he lured Doyle to the Rose Garden because Doyle was on "God's list". When Adam touches Doyle's hand, he has a vision of Doyle killing his own mother in cold blood. Adam picks up Otis from the undergrowth and kills Doyle before burying him in the Rose Garden.
A day after Doyle's disappearance, agents at the bureau frantically try to find the "Fenton Meiks", the man with whom Doyle was last seen leaving the building. Agent Hull (Derk Cheetwood), who met "Fenton" (Adam) the previous night, cannot remember the man's face, and all security footage showing Adam's face has been distorted. Eventually the FBI storm the real Fenton Meiks' house, only to find evidence of his murders, along with Doyle's FBI badge.
Hull visits the office of the local sheriff, who is revealed to be Adam Meiks. Hull does not recognize him, and explains that his visit is to inform him about his brother's killing spree and disappearance and asks that, if he thinks of anything to contact him. They shake hands, during which Adam holds a moment too long only to tell the agent, "You're a good man, Agent Hull."
Frailty earned $13,110,448 over its entire domestic run,[1] and received generally positive reviews, with a 74% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 133 reviews.[2] 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." Moviefone placed Frailty as the eleventh best horror movie of all time.[3] Bloody Disgusting gave the film an 'Honourable Mention' in their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade', with the article calling the film an "underrated gem... a small-scale, thought-provoking horror film that deserves a second look."[4]