A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to destroy people who were in fact "demons."A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to destroy people who were in fact "demons."A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to destroy people who were in fact "demons."
- Awards
- 5 wins & 16 nominations
- Becky Meiks
- (as Melissa Crider)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen asked why the axe used by his character has the name "OTIS" carved into the handle, Paxton stated that he wanted the axe to have its own personality and to be unique. He found the name in Pasadena when he was there scouting for locations to film. Paxton met a homeless man and offered to give him some money. The homeless man did not want charity, so Paxton instead offered to buy the use of the man's name for his movie. The homeless man's name was Otis.
- GoofsIn the title credits montage, we see a newspaper which reads SECOND VICTIM FOUND IN GOD'S HAND CASE at 02:03. In the next scene, Agent Doyle tells his visitor that of the 6 victims in the God's Hand case, only the first body was ever found, while for "all the rest, only notes were found, no bodies."
- Quotes
Dad: Come in and close the door. Are you afraid?
[Fenton nods]
Dad: Of what?
Young Fenton: You, you.
Dad: Only demons should fear me. You're not a demon, are you? The angel said you were. I can't believe that. I won't. You're my son, and I love you more than my own life. You know what's funny about all this, Fenton? I'm afraid of you.
- Crazy creditsDirectors Sam Raimi, Ivan Reitman and James Cameron, among others, are thanked at the end of the credits.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Making of 'Frailty' (2002)
- Soundtracks(There Will Be) Peace In The Valley For Me
Written by Thomas A. Dorsey
Arrangement by Johnny Cash (as John R. Cash)
Performed by Johnny Cash
Courtesy of Mercury Records
Published by Song of Cash, Inc. (ASCAP)
Administered by Bug Music, Inc.
"Frailty" starts with Matthew McConaughey's character seated in a Dallas FBI office waiting to talk to a particular agent. When the agent, Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe), finally meets Matthew M., M.M. conspicuously doesn't shake his hand and proceeds to tell Doyle that he knows who the God's Hand killer is. From there M.M. goes into a story going back to 1979 and his father (Bill Paxton) who believed he was receiving divine guidance to kill. His dad was such a believer that he included his sons in his "work." Dad said that he was called upon by the Lord to "destroy demons" who walked around in human form. He even had a list of names that was revealed to him.
*Just imagine the show "Supernatural" if Sam and Dean Winchester were hunting people.
While M.M. is telling this story we're seeing it happen as a flashback. The longer he tells this story the more you're wondering where it's going to wind up, but you're totally engrossed in the entire ordeal because a DUDE IS KILLING PEOPLE WITH HIS YOUNG SONS, and one of them whole-heartedly believes his dad.
The craziness doesn't stop until the very end where we get a serious twist. The thing about twist endings is that a movie has to be compelling enough up until that point. Using the IMDb scale, a movie can't be a 1/10 for an hour and a half and then throw a 10/10 twist in there. No one is going to bear through a paltry movie just for a good ending. A movie has to be at least a 5/10 to make an ending worth it. This movie was better than a 5/10 already, and the 9/10 ending only made it better.
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- Feb 7, 2021
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Las manos del diablo
- Filming locations
- Leonard Avenue & Hanawalt Avenue - Wasco, California, USA(Barn where dad finds the axe)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $11,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $13,110,448
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,208,655
- Apr 14, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $17,423,030
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1