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Zone's Eye View of "Frailty" 

Visit EZ's Red Carpet Premiere Coverage of "Frailty"

Synopsis of movie:

Fenton Meeks (Matthew McConaughey), comes forth to tell the FBI that his brother Adam may be the serial killer who calls himself God's Hands, who the FBI has been searching for. The film uses flashbacks to show Meeks' childhood with a father (Bill Paxton) who believed he was on a mission from God to destroy demons that inhabit human bodies. Fenton saw his dad as evil, while Adam saw him as a hero.

Now for The Zone's Eye View

By Laura Alber

Frailty is a well-built puzzle with each piece containing an intriguing and engrossing scene behind it. First time director Bill Paxton, who also stars in this thriller, will definitely make a mark with this film. He has managed to choose an incredible cast, capture the most intense lighting and rain effects for a visual eerie atmosphere, and the subject content and the way the story is told will definitely give you the chills. The pacing of the film is right on the money, never too slow or hurried, rather perfectly timed to keep your attention and the mood he wants to capture with the story itself. Paxton is most commonly known as more of a comedic or dramatic actor, never have I seen him quite so intense and dark As for co-star Matthew McConaughey, you may have seen him in intense films before (for example "A Time to Kill"), but I guarantee, you've never seen his eyes go totally dark and nefarious like this before. 

The film opens with "Fenton" (McConaughey) walks into the Texas FBI office claiming to have knowledge of who the "Gods Hand" killer is. Wesley Doyle (Powers Booth) is in charge of the investigations and reluctantly and skeptically listens to what Fenton has to say. Fenton tells Agent Doyle that he knows the killer is his brother Adam. Fenton tells the story of his and Adam's childhood through a series of well laid out and informative flashbacks. Doubting most of it, he agrees to go with Fenton to see where his brother has buried the bodies. 

Even while they are driving to the designated area, Fenton continues his story of their torturous upbringing by a father (Bill Paxton) who insists he was visited by an angel and was given a mission for him and his two sons to carry out. They were to find and destroy the "demons" of the world. They would be given weapons, and a list of names to carry out this mission, they would then bury the "demons" in the rose garden, which they live directly behind. Paxton and Adam (the younger son) take this with all seriousness, while Fenton just believes his dad is killing people. He suffers much at the hand of his father for his disbelief. Adam, the younger brother is much more impressionable and seems only to want to please his father, so he goes along with each and every plan. Fenton doubts his fathers motives and calls him insane, only to be locked in a cellar and being told of the story of Abraham sacrificing his only son for God. 

As with any childhood trauma, there are bound to be repercussions even later in life, which is true in this case also, but those surprises are to be discovered on your own. Paxton does throw in a few predictable scenes, but after watching it a second time, I think now that they were meant to be predictable. He definitely has reasons to do this, as there are many surprises in this film. The ending alone will leave you with a spine tingling chill. 

Paxton wisely chooses the element of horror and suspense by using illusion and assumption rather than unnecessary simulated special effects of the violence and bloodletting being bestowed on the "demons". It was very nice not to have a perfectly good thriller exploited with gory bloody effects. Frailty is a dark, disturbing and meticulously written story, with wonderful dialogue for each actor. One of the things that makes this film so chilling, is the fact that the father (Paxton) is a truly devoted and loving father, yet the ideas he implants in his children are nothing less than terrifying. Anytime you see religious extremists at work, it can truly make your skin crawl. Paxton did a wonderful job with his directorial debut, Hitchcock would have been proud. The Zone rates "Frailty" a 7 out of 10. A great rental!