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Avg. Critic Score: 64 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Andrea Yates believed she was possessed by Satan and could save her children by drowning them. Frailty is as chilling. Read full review

  • 90
    Variety | Robert Koehler

    A resoundingly old-fashioned and well crafted study of evil infecting an American family, Frailty moves from strength to strength on its deceptive narrative course. Read full review

  • 90
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    Paxton's Dad may be the most terrifying father to appear in a horror film since Jack Nicholson went crazily homicidal in "The Shining." Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Well-crafted, disturbing Texas gothic thriller, a completely spooky piece of business that gets under your skin and, some plot blips aside, stays there for the duration. Read full review

  • 75
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Against all odds in heaven and hell, it creeped me out just fine. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    May leave you more cold and stunned than enlightened. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    The payoff isn't worth the time invested, but at least the actor-turned-filmmaker underplays an inherently queasy project that could have been over the top. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe |

    Murder should either be unsparingly real or kitschy like the ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre.'' This is neither. Read full review

  • 30
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    The movie is so disturbing that it seems nearly blasphemous. I wouldn't wish it on an anthrax spore. After all, anthrax has feelings, too. Read full review

  • 0
    San Francisco Chronicle |

    Dumb but also unrelentingly dark and ugly, thereby depriving the viewer of any camp value. Read full review

View more reviews for Frailty on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids Violent and ultimately uneven and unsatisfying.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that many children will be disturbed by the spectacle of a loving father going crazy and becoming a homicidal maniac, and the consequences for the family. There are a number of shocking and tense moments among all the schlock.
  • Families can talk about both Adam and Fenton's reaction to their father's revelations. What would you do if your father or mother told you they were commanded by God to kill the guilty? An especially troubling aspect of the movie implies that the father's visions are real, and that God has actually selected a number of people to kill specific evildoers with an ax. Families of any faith will want to discuss the difference between the movie's depiction and real-world religion.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: Multiple grisly murders (mostly offscreen, deranged parent, child locked u.
  • sex false0 Sex: Not an issue
  • language false3 Language: Some strong language
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Implied drinking problem
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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