History Film / Frailty

* FakeOutTwist: Fenton and his father turn out [[spoiler:to be insane {{Serial Killer}}s; Fenton's father professes to have the ability to sense evil in people and they believe they're purging sinners from the world by ritually murdering them in their barn. But then it's shown that Fenton isn't Fenton at all: he's Adam, the brother "Fenton" claimed was murdered by their father. And Adam actually can sense evil in people. Adam killed Fenton because he was a murderer, and he sees that the detective he's been talking to slew his own mother.]]

** [[spoiler: "Fenton", who is actually Adam, carefully avoids touching Agent Doyle until the end. When Doyle teaches out to shake his hand, Adam instead hands him the photo he took off his desk. When Doyle tries to put his hand on Adam's head to help him into the squad car, Adam jerks or of the way and says he can do it himself.]]

* {{Telepathy}}: The father claims to have the ability to see people's sins by touching them. [[spoiler: Given the way Adam finds out about Wesley murdering his mother, and how maybe he does.]] Also, when he shakes Agent Hull's hand and tells him he's a good man, it can be assumed that he saw that Hull hadn't committed any terrible crimes.

* MeaningfulName: Adam Mieks is [[spoiler: the real protagonist, as he's the one who has an actual biblical name as opposed to his demonic SerialKiller brother.]]

-->'''Fenton:''' It does. (Beat) [[spoiler:If the man standing in front of you [[ActuallyIAmHim is Adam Mieks]].]]

* RewatchBonus
** Like with ''Film/TheSixthSense'', a lot of things in the movie take on a new light once you know the TwistEnding.
** [[Adam carefully avoids touching Agent Doyle until the end. When Doyle teaches out to shake his hand, Adam instead hands him the photo he took off his desk. When Doyle tries to put his hand on Adam's head to help him into the squad car, Adam jerks or of the way and says he can do it himself.]]
** [[Why does Fenton have dark brown hair in the flashbacks, when Matthew McConaughey is blonde? Because that's really Adam, who's blonde in the flashbacks.]]

* RewatchBonus: Like with ''Film/TheSixthSense'', a lot of things in the movie take on a new light once you know the TwistEnding.

'''Beware of spoilers.'''

Fenton Meiks ([=McConaughey=]) comes to an FBI agent (Boothe) with information about the notorious God's Hand Killer, who has been terrorizing the state of Texas. Through flashbacks, we learn about Fenton, his brother Adam, and his father (Paxton) who has a religious experience that plunges the entire family into turmoil. The father gathers his sons together one morning and tells them they are now soldiers in a heavenly war, and are charged with destroying demons on earth. The revelation splits the family: Adam and his dad are on one side, believing they are destroying demons; meanwhile Fenton believes they are murdering innocent people and is torn between loving his father and thinking he's completely off his rocker. Fenton makes a fateful decision and has come to the agent's office to relieve his guilt and confess his family's buried secrets...

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: According to Christian tradition, demons are pure spirit, without bodies and which cannot be destroyed. Although, according to Christian teaching, it is possible for a demon to possess someone, the remedy for possession is an exorcism. Possessed people are just as much victims of demons as anyone else, and are not necessarily at fault for being possessed. [[KillTheHostBody Killing the possessed person]] would have absolutely no effect on the demon. It's also possible that the use of the term "demon" here is used as a synonym for an irredeemably wicked human. This seems to be the case with [[spoiler:Fenton.]]

* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Notably used in the scenes with Fenton and Doyle driving. For the most part, only one half of their faces is lit, by streetlights and the occasional passing car.

* ExtraStrengthMasquerade: Dad states that he's invisible when he's working as God's Hand.[[spoiler: In the ending this turns out to be true. Security footage of Adam is corrupted so that his face can't be made out, and the one person who saw him face-to-face doesn't recognize him a short time later.]]

* OnlySaneMan: Fenton Meiks in the flashbacks. [[spoiler: Or so we are led to believe.]]

* SocialServicesDoesNotExist : Granted, he's an UnreliableNarrator, but when [[spoiler: Fenton is imprisoned in the hole by his father]], is it summer vacation? Surely someone would notice him missing school, at least.

* {{Telepathy}}: The father claims to have the ability to see people's sins by touching them. [[spoiler: Given the way Adam finds out about Wesley murdering his mother, and howmaybe he does.]] Also, when he shakes Agent Hull's hand and tells him he's a good man, it can be assumed that he saw that Hull hadn't commited any terrible crimes.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:It turns out that the visions that Dad and Adam Meiks saw were in fact true and the people who he abducted and killed with his ax were in fact demons who had commited horrific crimes.]]

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The plot is inspired by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kallinger Joseph Kallinger]], a serial killer who abducted and killed several families between 1974 and 1975, and forced his 12-year old son Michael to assist him.

* AnAxeToGrind: The axe is inscribed with "OTIS". Some fans think this is either the father's first name, the name of the ax, or an acronym meaning "Only The Innocent Survive". [[invoked]] WordOfGod is that the only reason "OTIS" was put there was so that you'd know at the end of the movie that it's still the same axe, making "Only The Innocent Survive" more of a backronym.
** Bill Paxton said that the name for the axe came from a homeless man he met. He offered the man money but he refused, saying he didn’t want charity. Instead, Paxton told the man that he would “buy“ his name for use in his film. The homeless man’s name was Otis.

* [[spoiler: DecoyProtagonist]]: [[spoiler: Fenton.]]

!!Theis film provides examples of:

* GuileHero: [[spoiler:Adam's entire scheme depends on revealing his family history to an FBI agent in a manner to obscure his real identity, in order to lure the demon inhabiting the agent to its doom.]]