Sometimes, I will see a movie that just works it's way under my skin and unnerve me completely. Frailty is one of those movies. It mostly avoids cheap jump scares, preferring to worm it's way into one's psyche and really stay there. Part of the reason it works so well is that so much of the film is grounded firmly in reality, making the crazier elements stand out that much more and be that much more effective.
Fenton Meiks (played by Matthew McConaughey) shows up one rainy night at the FBI offices in Dallas, Texas. He will only speak with the Agent in charge of the God's Hands killer, Agent Wesley Doyle (played by Powers Boothe). Fenton tells Doyle he knows who the God's Hands killer is, his brother Adam, continuing the work their father started. Not believing him, but keeping an open mind, Doyle asks Fenton to continue. The film then shifts into an extended flashback as Fenton (played in the flashbacks by Matt O'Leary) tells the story of his childhood, growing up with his widowed father (played by Bill Paxton) and younger brother Adam (played by Jeremy Sumpter). By all accounts, it's a normal childhood until one night Dad bursts into the boys' bedroom in the middle of the night, telling them that he was visited by an angel who has charged him with a mission to hunt down demons disguised as humans and destroy them. At first Fenton thinks it was all just a weird dream, but soon Dad is bringing home an ax he says the Angel led him to, as well as a piece of lead pipe and a pair of gloves. Adam believes their Dad right away, but Fenton is convinced his father has lost his mind. Things escalate further when Dad brings home his first victim and upon laying his hand on them claims to see visions of their crimes before he dispatches him in front of the two boys. The three of them then proceed to bury the remains in a nearby Rose garden. Fenton suddenly finds himself trapped, imprisoned in a nightmare with a fanatical father proclaiming he is getting messages from God to kill these people and unsure where to turn to as his Father continues to carry out his deeds.
The film not only stars Bill Paxton, but was also directed by him from a script by Brent Hanley. It is an layered film, anchored by three fully drawn and realized characters. The film tows this fine line where the viewer is never quite sure if what we are seeing, or if the father's mission is true or if he really has gone mad. It's a balancing act, especially in Paxton's performance but he pulls it off beautifully. Paxton's character is not an abusive character, he loves his boys very much and shows them plenty of affection, which contrasts sharply with his "mission." Matt O'Leary does well as young Fenton, a kid trapped in a nightmare, afraid to seek help out of fear of what might happen to the people he sought help from. It's this predicament and the themes of the story that give the film it's intensity. The violence for the most part is kept off screen. The film instead tackles it's themes head on about the dangers of blind faith and belief in general following it's tangent all the way into the depths of hell. It's a film that is both unnerving and unrelentingly effective. The plot twists and turns, keeping the viewer on their toes the entire time wondering what is really going on.
Overall, Frailty is an impressive and very effective horror movie. It for the most part forgoes cheap scares and is far more interested in something deeper, more meaningful and in the end all the more unnerving.
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