Day 347 of the challenge! I was loving every moment of Frailty, and then that ending happened…
A slow burning horror film about a family of serial killers justifying their killings as “doing god’s work?” That’s such a great set up with so much potential, and for the longest time, Frailty was delivering on that potential! Has Bill Paxton gone insane? Are his visions and angelic messages of demons in human skin true? Something in between? I had no idea, and I was loving it!
Frailty perfectly walks the fine line of all the possibilities, making you doubt yourself anytime you think you have it figured out. I was genuinely loving the film (as cheesy as it was at times) for it’s amazingly creepy atmosphere, Bill Paxton’s killer performance, and the tension filled mystery at the core of it’s story, only to end up hating it. When it’s all said and done, Frailty’s biggest horror ends up being not demons or serial killings, but a forced in twist with a good helping of over-explanation. Honestly, name something more frustrating than that.
I’m sure some people loved (and will love) the way Frailty wraps up it’s incredibly well done story, but I can’t shake the feeling that the film shot itself in the foot at the last second, failing to live up to it’s own potential.