Randal’s Saturday evening movie recommendation: Frailty
Looking for a good film to watch this weekend? You certainly could do worse than Bill Paxton’s highly underrated 2001 film “Frailty.” The film tells the story of Mr. Mieks (played by Bill Paxton) and his two sons. One day he receives a visit from an angel (or so he thinks anyway) who informs him that the end of the world is coming and demons disguised as human beings are walking in our midst. The angel then commissions Mieks to go out and be the crusader who dispatches these indistinguishable-from-people-demons. Mieks faithfully goes out, finds a good sized axe, and gets to work.
Those who have a weak stomach need not worry too much: almost all the violence is carried out off screen. (Though sometimes imagination is even worse than all the corn syrup blood Hollywod can splatter.) Needless to say, this film is very far from the Hollywood torture porn that I have griped about. “Frailty” is no “Saw”. It raises deeply troubling epistemological problems for people who believe in God and believe that God can possibly command them to do things which appear not only strange (like some of Ezekiel’s shenanigans) but violently shocking (like Abraham’s offering of Isaac).
As you watch the film ask yourself: what would I do if I had Mr. Mieks’ experience? Would I also take up an axe and get to work? If not, why not?
One of the best aspects of the movie is the ambiguity that Paxton weaves into the storyline. In short, he provides enough hints that supernatural forces were involved to leave unresolved the matter of whether Mieks was a murderous monster or a “knight of faith”.
Tags: Bill Paxton, Frailty
11 Comments
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Dan Wilkinson says:
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 2:04am
Thanks for the recommendation…will check it out!
randal says:
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 2:10am
Just be sure to screen it before you show it to the church youth group
.
James says:
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 2:15pm
This is one of my favourite films, although its dark premise scares most of my friends and familiy away from watching it with me.
randal says:
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 2:36pm
I suggest you invite them over to watch a Pixar film. Then lock the doors to your basement theatre and pull a bait and switch. I’m sure they’ll thank you.
JD says:
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 3:52pm
This is one of my favorite supernatural horror/thrillers, precisely because of the fascinating questions you highlight. Great performances by all involved, especially Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey, here far removed from the romantic comedy fluff he seems stuck in today. This is Christianity (or at least theism) very much in the vein of Stephen King: God is distant, mysterious and terrible (if you accept that supernatural forces were involved, which I do), and humans are caught up in the war between good and evil almost against their will. And what a twist ending (no spoilers from me)!
Seriously, why can’t Hollywood make more intelligent religious horror films like this? The only one that comes close in my opinion is The Exorcist.
randal says:
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 8:29pm
M. Night Shyamalan started out with promise but we no longer speak his name in our house.
Ray Ingles says:
Monday, November 15, 2010 at 11:50am
Of course, if God were ‘mysterious’ (which is what supernatural boils down to, ‘beyond human ken’), then why couldn’t God order the murder of babies, right?
Shawn says:
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 10:39pm
I preface my comments by saying I have not watched the moveie. But to respond to your challenge, what would I do when seeing/hearing angels telling me to murder people?
I’d probably murder them seeing as I’d be mentally ill in the first place.
randal says:
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 10:59pm
It might be tough to kill an angel since they are classically defined as a immortal non-physical substance, but you could give it the ole’ college try.
Shawn says:
Monday, November 15, 2010 at 1:03am
I meant the people.
Murdering angels and gods are what we atheists do for fun though Randal.
Shawn says:
Monday, November 15, 2010 at 1:05am
“If you meet the Buddha on the road kill him”
Zen Bhuddist saying.