Directed By:Bill Paxton
Written By:Brent Hanley
Frailty
Metascore
Generally Favorable
64
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
64
63% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
31% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
6% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
100
Andrea Yates believed she was possessed by Satan and could save her children by drowning them. Frailty is as chilling.
80
It's a small, unassuming movie grasping at whole-hog homo psychopathicus, with its feet planted squarely in Texan grave dirt and its head lost in the ether of Christian derangement.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
68% Positive
65 Ratings
65 Ratings
23% Mixed
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
9% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
Sep 21, 2014
10
Just saw this on TV after it was recommended by 'Mystery Exec" on twitter. Excellent thriller. Great performances from Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey. Bill Paxton should direct again. Strange it got such poor reviews when it came out. Only Ebert seems to have seen what a compelling film it is.
May 24, 2013
9
Having terrorised a small Texan town years before, the God's Hand Killer has returned leaving many more victims. Late at night Fenton Meiks arrives at FBI Headquarters claiming he knows the killers identity and so, in order to convince Agent Doyle Fenton, returns to the beginning of a story that started with his father. Frailty doesnt rely on blood and gore to produce its shocks instead choosing to gradually explore the relationship between Meiks, his brother and his father. The story that builds is truly gripping as we learn the origin of the Gods Hand Killer and start to understand how Meiks knows as much as he does. Thankfully the finale is able to match the rest of the film making for one of the most underrated thrillers in recent times.
75
You'll depart with memories of a well-crafted study in quiet horror, and with ideas whirling in your head about the nature of evil and what happens to children caught in its grip.
67
Chills to the bone -- and beyond, but for pure excitement it's best not to look far beneath the surface.
60
Paxton is impressively subtle and elicits remarkable performances from O'Leary and Sumpter.
50
Like so many other allegedly scary movies, it gets so tangled up in The Twist that it chokes the energy right out of the very audience it seeks to frighten.
0
Dumb but also unrelentingly dark and ugly, thereby depriving the viewer of any camp value.
Dec 30, 2011
9
A film that is like many other crime dramas but with a dark scary twist to it. Every scene in this film is important. The film flows very smoothly and the shocking finish fits perfectly with the past events that have already occured in the film. Unlike many other films this ending was necessary for the story and it's themes. The question i'm still pondering at the end of the film is if Adam Meekes is a hero or if Fenton was right. The film does lean towards one side but there is still room for Fenton's perspective.
Oct 20, 2018
6
They should have put 'comedy' instead of 'Horror' by the genre of this film. Some of the fundamental scenes were poorly directed, so that they did not cause horror, but laugh. Also I missed the Sci-Fi part. Frailty is definitely thriller with potential, that offers interesting new idea.
Sep 16, 2021
5
I liked the atmosphere, but the notable lack of variation that Bill Paxton prints to the narrative of his film, makes it become boring after a while, because it's just unable to move forward. Clearly the plot has enough traction, but it walks along the same plot line, which never gets more dramatic or crucial for that matter.
For that same reason, the construction of the climax doesn't make it resounding or powerful
May 12, 2014
2
matthew **** being rust cohle, that is, acting inscrutable, showing little emotion, and coming off as nicely creepy years before he realized roles like this were his calling. he's the only reason to watch the film. m. night shymalan covered this these far more effectively in "unbreakable".
Production Company:
- David Kirschner Productions
- American Entertainment
- Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG
- Cinedelta
Release Date:Apr 12, 2002
Duration:1 h 40 m
Rating:R
Tagline:There are demons among us
Awards
Golden Schmoes Awards
• 1 Win & 5 Nominations
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 5 Nominations
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
