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Frailty

Name: Frailty
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller, Horror
Released: April 12, 2002
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 64
Cast: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey

2002

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critics

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 213 Ratings

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8.9

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8.9	Your Score
8.9	User Score Universal acclaim based on 213 Ratings

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FRAILTY

Movie Details & Credits

Lions Gate Films | Release Date: April 12, 2002 | R

Starring: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey

Summary: The story of the FBI's search for the notorious "God's Hand" murderer. (Lion Gate Films)

Director: Bill Paxton

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller, Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 100 min

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Awards & Rankings

38	#38 Most Discussed Movie of 2002
31	#31 Most Shared Movie of 2002

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Roger Ebert

Andrea Yates believed she was possessed by Satan and could save her children by drowning them. Frailty is as chilling. Read full review

New York Magazine (Vulture) Peter Rainer

The film becomes cumulatively stranger as it goes along, and it has a lulu of a kicker. Read full review

Chicago Reader Hank Sartin

It's good old-fashioned rural gothic that would make Flannery O'Connor proud, with tricky switcheroos that keep shaking up our assumptions about what's going on. Read full review

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Chills to the bone -- and beyond, but for pure excitement it's best not to look far beneath the surface. Read full review

L.A. Weekly Chuck Wilson

Audiences are destined to debate the film's final scenes, where Hanley piles on plot twists, leading to a coda that turns a creepily ambiguous story about God and the terrifying power of paternal love into something closer to an X-File. Read full review

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Gory but lifeless. Read full review

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Dumb but also unrelentingly dark and ugly, thereby depriving the viewer of any camp value. Read full review

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User Reviews

Eilidh2

Sep 21, 2014

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.

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

GeorgeS.

Nov 14, 2005

Even though I have rated a good 15 movies in the last 10 minutes the truth is I really don't like a Numbered rating system. that 10 is for being able to scare the living crap out of me without being overly graphic. The movie itself something like a 9.2 but the story although not the Even though I have rated a good 15 movies in the last 10 minutes the truth is I really don't like a Numbered rating system. that 10 is for being able to scare the living crap out of me without being overly graphic. The movie itself something like a 9.2 but the story although not the most clean and polished one of the best movies I have ever seen for messing with your head. up there with Identity and Memento.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

drlowdon

May 24, 2013

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 storyHaving 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.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

joe_mcfarlane

Sep 2, 2011

This is a good film.. i thought that the plot was well thought out and it's a very interesting film to watch. the ending is very clever and i liked this film a lot. whilst the film's plot twist is obvious from the beginning it's still very gripping

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

annbd

Oct 20, 2018

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.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

SEROJ

Oct 20, 2018

I have so many mixed feelings for this movie. I think it was good, but i don't think i would watch it again.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

DHE

Dec 3, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A bait-and-switch contrivance of the worst kind. (Is there a good kind?) The creepy religious weirdness that characterized the bulk of the movie was an accurate - and disturbing - cautionary tale about how faith and belief untethered to objective reality morphs seamlessly into bat-**** crazy. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people like those depicted in the film (some of them are currently running for president), so the apparent message of the film would have seemed to be: watch out for nut-jobs masquerading as good God-fearing people. I say apparent because this prevailing theme gives way in the end to its opposite. Namely, no matter how crazy you thought these people were, you were wrong: they were actually doing God's handiwork. Really. So I guess regardless of how irrational people might seem, who knows, they may just be taking orders from God. This is not a plot twist; it's a plot reversal. Or a sick joke. If you're truly religious, I don't see how you could make it through most of this movie. If you're not, you'll be thoroughly disgusted with the ending. If you're neither, maybe this is the movie for you.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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