WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW.
Note: I went to the official website and read the synopsis of the story there to see how much they revealed. I wanted to make sure that I didn't give away too much of the movie. Based on what's on the official website, I haven't given away any sacred information.
The Digest
FBI Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) has been called back to the office in the middle of the night to meet with a young man who has just announced that he knows who is responsible for the recent rash of killings. Agent Doyle is of course very skeptical about this man’s claims. Crazy folks call in all the time and claim responsibility for various crimes and part of Doyle's job is to weed out the wackos. Imagine his surprise when he realizes that this young man just might be telling the truth.
This young man, Fenton Meiks (Matthew McConaughey) claims that it was his brother Adam (Levi Kreis) who was the serial killer. To explain why his brother called himself "God's Hands" and murdered 6 people before taking his own life, Fenton must first take agent Doyle back to 1979 when Fenton was a young boy.
12 year-old Fenton (Matt O'Leary) and 9-year-old Adam (Jeremy Sumpter) live a fairly normal life. Their mother passed away years earlier and it has just been the boys and their dad (Bill Paxton). Each day the boys come home from school do their chores, cook dinner and wait for Dad to come home. The routine works for them and keeps them happy. Their world seems perfect until their dad makes a startling announcement.
Dad wakes them up in the middle of the night and tells the boys that he has been visited by an Angel and that this Angel has told him that he has been chosen by God to perform a holy mission. He and the boys must seek out demons that look like ordinary men and women and destroy them. He doesn't know how or who yet, but the Angel will visit him again give him more details.
Young and impressionable Adam falls for it and thinks it's cool that his dad is a spiritual super hero. Fenton on the other hand is rightly concerned. He thinks his dad is losing it and it bothers him. He fears for his brother because Fenton knows that something isn't right and yet his brother is falling for it hook, line, and sinker. And while Fenton doesn't fear that his father will hurt either of them, he isn't quite sure how far his father will go to destroy these demons. Further, his father has told them if they tell anyone, someone is surely to die so they must keep this secret. How is Fenton going to get his family back to normal if he must keep it a secret? How is he going to get back the father he so dearly loves and keep his family intact?
The Dish
Whooooo. This movie creeped me the hell out! It's like Stephen King or Alfred Hitchcock, but not like Friday the 13th or Halloween. You know what I mean? These are two different types of scary. King and Hitchcock make your skin crawl or make you afraid to turn on the shower; or make you jump when the floors creek. After watching Hitchcock, it takes a few weeks before I can go to the bathroom without locking the bathroom door and I making sure all the house doors are closed and locked.
With movies like Friday the 13th and Halloween, yes I'm scared, but only during the course of the movie. There isn't any subtlety in these types of movies, so I'm able to separate myself from them. Not so with a good old fashion scary movie. I still hate flies to this day because of Amityville Horror, I still lock the door when I take a shower because of Psycho, if I see more than 3 crows in a tree, I want to start boarding up the house because of the Birds . This is how Frailty has affected me. There wasn't one element like a bird, or a shower, or flies, that I can point out - yet the entire story from start to finish kept me on the edge of my seat and my eyes glued to the screen. It messed with my mind to the point where I have lost sleep. And that, children, is very rare for me.
Both of the young actors were believable, especially young Fenton (Matt O'Leary). I knew without a doubt that he was struggling with trying to understand a Good God who is asking his dad to do Bad Things. Struggling with the fact that if he tells on his father, someone will die and he and Adam will be seperated. Coming to terms with his own sense of justice, but yet still have a respectful fear of his dad. And finally, being the caretaker of his younger brother and feeling betrayed by him when he sides with their dad. All of this is mixing around in his 12 year old head.
If I can say anything negative about this movie, it's the pacing. There were times when the narration was faster than the visuals on the screen and there was a slight, but uncomfortable lag and sometimes the movie just dragged a little bit. Usually when we go back to adult Fenton as he segue ways to childhood. More often than not, I wanted them to forget about adult Fenton and just jump to the kids.
The Directive
Some of you are going to absolutely hate this movie and that's okay. Even with the huge plot twist some people in my audience felt let down and felt like they were left hanging. Some of you like me will absolutely love this movie for it's originality and it's mind blowing story. Either way, I do encourage you all to see it at some point. If nothing else, it does spark a lot of discussion and that is always a good thing.
My mind is frail after watching this movie.
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