Frailty is not an especially well-known film, but it seems to have developed an increasing reputation since its original release in 2001 and I think this is well-merited. It's a dark film, with likeable characters in short supply, but it's gripping and the plot twists are, in my opinion, highly effective. It's a crime film with horror overtones (although there's plenty of violence, it's not really graphic) and arguably elements of the supernatural.
On the surface, the story seems quite straightforward. A man visits police HQ in Dallas, Texas and insists on seeing the cop in charge of the 'God's Hand' serial killings case. He gets his wish and is duly interviewed by Wesley Dixon, a senior detective whose own mother was a murder victim (and the murderer was never caught). Dixon (Powers Boothe) learns that his visitor (Matthew McConnaughy) is Fenton Meiks, who has come to report that his brother Adam, who has just shot himself, is the God's Hand Killer.
His story, told via extended flashbacks, is a grim one. The two brothers were brought up by a loving father, a garage mechanic (very well played by Bill Paxton, who also directed the film). However, an apparent vision of an angel persuaded their father that it was God's will that he should track down and kill various individuals who were demons in human form. The two young boys witnessed their father's crimes. Young Adam shared his father's beliefs, but Fenton rebelled and tried to tell the truth about their father, with unhappy results.
To say more would be a spoiler. Suffice to say that this is a film that repays watching more than once. I was very impressed by Brent Hanley's script, and the quality of the acting (the cast includes Melissa aka Missy Crider, in a small role that is nevertheless crucial to the plot). The music is pretty good, too. Whatever one makes of the quasi-religious elements of the storyline, this is a film which I think deserves to be much more highly regarded than seems to have been the case twenty-two years ago.
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