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Frailty

Frailty (2002)

tomatometer

74

Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 136
Fresh: 100 | Rotten: 36

Creepy and disturbing, Frailty is well-crafted, low-key horror.

71

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 9

Creepy and disturbing, Frailty is well-crafted, low-key horror.

audience

77

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 49,986

My Rating

Movie Info

Actor Bill Paxton made his directorial debut with Frailty. The bulk of the story is told through flashbacks, as a mysterious man (Matthew McConaughey) tells a terrible tale to an FBI agent (Powers Boothe) investigating the "God's Hand" serial killer case. The man grew up in a small town in Texas, where he and his brother lived a bucolic life with their kindhearted widower father (Paxton). One night, the father awakens the two boys, Fenton (Matthew O'Leary) and Adam (Jeremy Sumpter), and tells

R, 1 hr. 39 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Horror

Brent Hanley

Sep 17, 2002

$13.1M

Lions Gate Films

Cast

All Critics (151) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (102) | Rotten (36) | DVD (36)

Paxton wins quiet victories here as both star and helmer.

July 20, 2002 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | Comment
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I love the way that it took chances and really asks you to take these great leaps of faith and pays off.

April 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A terrifying low-budget thriller that packs a greater wallop than most of the high-priced studio scarefests.

April 14, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A suitably suspenseful and disturbing drama.

April 12, 2002 Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A spectacularly gruesome and emotionally destructive, if fictitious, account of child abuse, mounted to provide two tweaks of emotion in a clumsily telegraphed surprise ending.

April 12, 2002 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

As a first-time director, Paxton has tapped something in himself as an actor that provides Frailty with its dark soul.

April 12, 2002 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

...a solid thriller from a promising first-time director.

December 18, 2011 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

Violent and ultimately uneven and unsatisfying.

December 24, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment (1)
Common Sense Media

Bill Paxton, longtime bit-player and significantly underrated character actor, makes his directorial debut with Frailty, a joyless tale of one family's psychotic cycle of violence.

July 2, 2008 Full Review Source: IGN Movies | Comment (1)
IGN Movies

The film's just about perfect.

June 17, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter | Comment
ESplatter

Feels like Sling Blade rewritten at a crawl by Stephen King.

February 13, 2008 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment (1)
eFilmCritic.com

An overpraised thriller that's really as superficial as a bruise.

August 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | Comment
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

The intricate plotting . . . reveals everything and yet, using the audiences preconceived notions, makes each fact a surprise and each fiction a shock.

April 5, 2003 Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | Comment
Killer Movie Reviews

So grim, dim, and formulaic, that there is no room for any kind of visceral connection or genuine suspense.

March 19, 2003 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment (1)
eFilmCritic.com
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Frailty

Sloppy B-movie trying to pass as sophisticated horror. Even though its script is seriously bad and repetitive, Frailty does manage to hold your attention. Actor/director Bill Paxton offers a lackluster performance, but Matt O'Leary, Jeremy Sumpter and Matthew McConaughey make up for that. The film also features some

June 14, 2007

Frailty is one of those Horror greats that no one really knows about or tries to ignore. What I mean by that is the film is a film that horror fans seem to avoid. However when they do finally get a hold of this superior horror film, they are blown away. I was one of those people as well. Frailty tells the story of the

January 22, 2011
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

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