Once in a while, a movie creeps up on you unexpectedly and launches a full-scale attack. Sometimes this attack is misguided or pointless, but "Frailty" assaults the viewer with both purpose and emotional impact.
The first hour or so of this highly unconventional thriller is almost unbearable and the rest of the film proceeds to turn itself on its head. "Frailty" doesn't have a pretentious plot twist that draws attention to itself the way some horror movies have done lately. It's more simple and very effective.
The movie begins in the present with Fenton Meeks (Matthew McConaughey) speaking to FBI agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) about a recent rash of killings dubbed the "God's Hand" murders that he believes were perpetrated by his brother. Skeptical but curious, the agent hears him out and the film unfolds in a series of flashbacks detailing Fenton's childhood (where he is played by Matthew O'Leary), which took a turn from the idyllic and happy to the dark and violent.
His father (Bill Paxton) is a happy single father who seems to be genuinely loving and caring. But after being visited by an angel from God who tells him to kill people who he is told are actually demons, he seems to have gone off the deep end. Fenton begins to suspect him of madness while his younger brother, Adam (Jeremy Sumpter) never doubts his father for a second.
The mystery surrounding the current murders takes a backseat but is eventually explained as Fenton's father's murder spree is detailed. Adam, who was always loyal, sides with his dad and the tension mounts as the murders continue and, most shocking of all, the father never loses his compassion or loving nature toward his children, even after killing multiple people. He genuinely believes that what he's doing is divinely inspired.
Both Sumpter and O'Leary are great as the children torn between duty toward their father and what they see as duty toward God, and the madness that it looks like to a rational eye. Everyone else in the cast is at the top of their game, Paxton in particular.
"Frailty" is positively electric at times. There are several scenes that sent chills up and down even my jaded spine. The grotesque violence is jarring but handled in an old-fashioned, off-screen way. The use of editing and sound effects here are more than enough to creep people out.
Now, the reason the film doesn't get the full five stars is for two specific scenes: a brief hallucination scene that is meant to be a turning point in the movie is presented in an unintentionally humorous fashion that induced laughter and broke the tension it had worked so hard to sustain. Also, a flaw in performance hinders a key murder in the film. These are small problems, and they keep the film only slivers away from being rock-solid.
"Frailty" is seriously inspired. I haven't seen a movie with this much bite since "Requiem for a Dream."
It's so intense, sitting in the theater made me feel like a character in Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians." Several audience members walked out through the course of the film, visibly upset or shaking. There were only a handful of us left in the semi-crowded theater by the time the credits rolled.
The good news is that Bill Paxton has done an extraordinary job directing and acting in the film. The bad news is that Paxton has done an extraordinary job directing and acting in the film.
He handled it so effectively, in fact, that the film is very difficult to stomach for a lot of the running time. The audience can't help being horrified by the events depicted. The temptation to walk out is high because it's a lot to handle.
But there's something larger at work and Paxton and crew have a definite purpose behind it. The ending makes the rest of the film work and even worth another viewing. This movie is meant to leave the viewer reeling.
Some people might hate the movie simply because so much horrid stuff does happen in it. This is a valid criticism and I definitely advise anyone with a faint heart or someone conditioned to expect a "Scream"-type horror film to stay far, far away. But anyone open-minded enough to take the good and the bad in this rough ride has my blessing.
I, for one, drove home from "Frailty" in stunned silence so I'm not going to spoil the ending. Even if some knucklehead does tell you what happens, see it anyway. It's worth it.
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