Frailty on AllMovie

Actor Bill Paxton steps behind the camera for this taut psychological thriller, his sophomore directorial effort. Matthew McConaughey stars as Fenton Meiks, a man who appears in the office of FBI Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) with a startling story to tell. Doyle has been hunting a Texas serial killer who calls himself "God's Hands," and Fenton claims to know the culprit intimately -- his brother, Adam. Fenton claims that, after committing the murders, Adam killed himself and is now buried in a rose garden. As Fenton guides Doyle to the grave site, he spins the tale of their childhood. In 1979, 12-year-old Fenton (Matt O'Leary) and his nine-year-old brother, Adam (Jeremy Sumpter), are happy boys raised by their kindly, devoted father (Paxton), who is still grieving the death of his wife in childbirth. Their idyll is shattered when their dad claims to have been visited by an angel who has entrusted him with a holy mission to seek out and kill demons posing as ordinary people. Provided a list of names, their father intends to carry out his quest with the help of his children. While Adam believes in the new family business, Fenton questions his father's sanity. Eventually, the violence of their murderous experiences warps both men, who develop extreme beliefs regarding good and evil, leading to some shocking eleventh hour revelations. Frailty, which co-stars Luke Askew and Missy Crider, was shot in 37 days with a tight budget of ten million dollars on-location in Texas, home state of stars Paxton, Boothe, and McConaughey.