The subtext of free will is very consciously handled in this film; in one scene, Fenton and Adam were even watching a claymation parable about it on tv. For anyone with a comparative understanding of the religion, the question of free will versus destiny is one of the major themes in Christianity. I think Frailty uses that to great effect. It does seem to come down more on the side of destiny being written and the worth of a soul being weighed out before the sins have been committed, or, at the very least, that free will exists but an omniscient God can predict the end results. Nonetheless God waits for you to commit the sins before He sends vengeance. Remember, Adam said he had to wait until God put Fenton on his list, otherwise it would have been murder.
---
---
---
---
---
Yes, Fenton had the choice to murder or not to murder those people but the film makes the viewers think, ok, God tells a man to kill Demons AKA People who commit murder and destroy the innocence of children. His child, a boy who seems to think logically and seems to question his father's blind faith witnesses his father murder people because God told him too in a very grotesque fashion. Could Adam not see later on that those actions may have very much mentally harmed his brother to a point where he had murderous impulses he could possibly not control due to mental illness? Adam had faith but the film also made him appear to be impressionable at a young age and he could have grown up all his life not thinking about the trauma his more logical thinking brother (as he was portrayed )had gone through. Yes, Fenton didn't have to murder people as he has free will, but it is no doubt that the actions he witnessed as a child mentally harmed him. The film to me also seemed to have portrayed God as hypocritical. Murder is a sin yet it is ok to murder those God instructs you to murder? If those people committed those sins out of their own free will, was it right that God appoint another person to commit the murder of another human when murder itself is a sin? The film presents both the themes of free will and blind faith and handles both exceptionally well. The film really does make you think. Definitely one of my favorite horror movies.

從片中的動(dòng)畫片看出導(dǎo)演倡導(dǎo)Free Will的意思，結(jié)局卻說小兒子的確有看到惡魔，容易讓人感覺是傳教片，整個(gè)片子就是藏頭詩

好像沒有流芳百世的藏頭詩吧

      一家三口，父親和兩個(gè)兒子，父親為了讓兒子從失去母親的陰影中回到正常的生活而拼命工作養(yǎng)家教子，日子還算幸福。

      一天，他們的生活發(fā)生了變化---父親在一夜晚突然跑進(jìn)兒子的房間跟兒子說，他看到了天使，告訴他這世界有惡魔，而他們一家被選中了做“上帝之手”，要去消滅惡魔。之后父親在路邊的廢屋拿到了一把斧頭和一對(duì)手套，說是上帝給他用來消滅惡魔的武器。小兒子還很小，完全信了父親說的是事實(shí)，大兒子則認(rèn)為父親瘋了，這世上哪有什么惡魔和上帝，有的話那他母親怎會(huì)死？接著父親從天使那里得到了一個(gè)惡魔名單，于是他在黃頁上找那名字，并臨夜開車去把那惡魔捉了回來。但那只是一個(gè)普通的人!父親說，人樣只不過是惡魔用來迷惑人們的手段，當(dāng)他用他那“上帝之手”抓住惡魔時(shí)，他看到了惡魔所做的一切。但兒子什么也看不見，父親說那太邪惡了，兒子太小，不想讓兒子看影響兒子的心智。然后他拿起斧頭把惡魔消滅了。

      日子這樣重復(fù)著，每一段時(shí)間父親就捉回一個(gè)惡魔，當(dāng)著兒子的面用斧頭那它消滅，并埋在后花園里。后來大兒子反抗的情緒越來越重了，父親從天使那得到一個(gè)驚人消息，原來大兒子也是惡魔，父親認(rèn)為他只不過是不自愿幫助自己消滅惡魔的人--他的兒子而矣，只要他肯自愿幫他消滅惡魔時(shí)，他的兒子是惡魔就不成立了，于是他要大兒子挖了一個(gè)坑，并在上面建了一個(gè)木屋，用坑做地下室來對(duì)惡魔行刑。不久他又捉回來一個(gè)惡魔，在地下室里他要大兒子去消滅那惡魔。當(dāng)大兒子意識(shí)到要?dú)⑷藭r(shí)，他沖出了地下室，跑去報(bào)了警。因?yàn)槭切℃?zhèn)，警局里只有一個(gè)老警長(zhǎng)。大兒子把他帶到地下室，卻什么也沒有，而他開始只以為這只是小孩子跟家長(zhǎng)的斗氣而矣。當(dāng)大兒子說所有的屍體都埋在后花園里，叫他去看看，這時(shí)父親被逼絕了，只好殺了警長(zhǎng)。傷心的父親因?yàn)榇髢鹤拥某鲑u第一次殺了人，他把大兒子鎖在地下室，要他向上帝祈禱，不給他食物，只叫小兒子給他一餐一杯水，直到他能見到見到上帝。

      三天后，已餓到昏迷的大兒子沒我動(dòng)靜。父親把他抱出來，他慢慢的恢復(fù)了，并跟父親說，這向上帝祈禱并見到上帝了。父親很開心，大兒子不是惡魔，還同是見到上帝的人，于是他們?cè)僖黄鹱綈耗チ?。惡魔被捉了帶回到地下室，父親再次讓大兒子拿起斧頭去消滅惡魔。大兒子拿起斧頭，用力一揮，砍到父親的身上，父親倒下了。大兒子解脫，他以為“上帝之手”這就結(jié)束了。但一旁的小兒子卻撿起父親的斧頭，完成了你父親臨終時(shí)的遺愿---

      多年后，又出了一個(gè)連環(huán)殺手“上帝之手”，殺人分屍，跟當(dāng)年父親的手法一樣?，F(xiàn)在大兒子再次出現(xiàn)了，他來到FBI的辦公室找“上帝之手”案的負(fù)責(zé)人，他舉報(bào)了他弟弟就是“上帝之手”。但這時(shí)弟弟已經(jīng)自殺，而他曾經(jīng)答應(yīng)過弟弟在他死后也把他埋在后花園。由于沒有證據(jù)，他把他的童年發(fā)生的一切告訴了FBI，最后他帶著FBI去他父親的后花園找證據(jù)---這時(shí)真相揭曉了。。。在常人眼里看似瘋了的父親是個(gè)殺人狂宗殺狂熱者，同時(shí)還想把兒子帶上殺人的邪道，大兒子堅(jiān)持正義大義滅親，小兒子則繼承了父親的遺愿繼續(xù)殺人。---當(dāng)然，這是事情表面的常理，但絕不是真相，這部電影的耐人尋味之處就這在這里，超乎常理設(shè)定，不到最后你絕不知道事情的真相。要知道真相，自己看去吧。。

  this is ridiculous that I could find more than 100 comment on popcorn movie like kund fu panda or Narnia but there is no comment on this movie!I admit that it's not a famous movie and may be ppl can't find it easliy on dvd shop or internet but it was extremely worth a watching.
   The plot fights aginst ppl 's religion,especially who believes jesus.I had to admit it's an intriguing plot,including suspense,faith,conflict and fear.nowadays hollywood script writers launch a strike for their unfair pay,but what they had wrote was full of bullshit and made us thinking about their poor intelligence.what had they wrote?My little bro's story was more interesing than their "script" After u watched this movie u will be fed up with popcorn movies or hollyshit movies.
Bill paxton is not a famous actor but I believe he is an underrated prodigy.U can sense that on this movie ,and he shows his potential on directing.Thanks to his remarkable performance,I enjoy an amazing trip while watching and look forward to his next movie.