Breakdown - Frailty

(Another great job, Miriam! Thanks so much!)

Frailty

I chose this movie because it doesn't break down exactly according to the Snyder beat sheet. All of the beats hit in the right places except the B-story, which is a wrap-around and interwoven with the main story.

This film uses the opening credits to set the tone, but I haven't included them in my timed scenes. Brian Tyler's excellent score creates an undercurrent of tension as news clippings and crime scene photos of the God's Hand killer form a montage behind the titles.

1- 0:30 – Establishing shot of the FBI headquarters. Includes the ambulance. Agent Doyle enters the building. 00:30

2- 2:20 – Credits conclude as Doyle asks about the man in his office. When he arrives, the man introduces himself as Fenton Meeks. He asks about the picture of Doyle's mother and says he has information about the God's Hand killer. Doyle doesn't believe him and Meeks says, "Sometimes the truth defies reason." Theme stated. 02:50

3- 1:08 – Flashback of intercut phone conversation between Fenton and his brother, Adam, earlier in the evening. Scene ends on "Adam's "suicide." 03:58

4- 2:41 – Doyle checks Meeks' story with Becky in the sheriff's office. She confirms that he took the ambulance and his brother's body. Meeks begins his story, which is told in flashback. 06:39

5- 1:40 – 1979: Fenton and Adam, children, get off the bus and walk home through the rose garden while adult Fenton narrates. The short history of the family is given. The music over this scene is very dark and ominous, which is in stark contrast to the bucolic images of a sunny Texas town. 08:19

6- 2:49 – Dad comes home, they eat dinner, and go to bed. It's all so normal. 11:08

7- 3:34 – Dad wakes them up in the middle of the night to tell them an angel visited him and told him they are all now God's Hands and their mission is to destroy demons. This is very clearly what Snyder calls the Catalyst and Hauge calls the opportunity. 14:42

8- 1:41 – The next day Fenton can almost believe it was a dream until Dad reminds him not to tell anybody about their new mission. "We won't, Dad" Adam calls happily as he races into school. 16:23

9- 4:59 – Series of scenes: Dad finds his tools. Dad and Fenton discuss the next step. Fenton advances the theory that Dad is crazy. 21:22

10- 1:38 - Adam comes in with his own list. Dad has to explain the difference between destroying demons and killing people. 23:00

11- 2:06 – Dad doesn't come home from work. Fenton tells Adam that Dad's crazy and asks him to run away. 25:06

12- 3:41 – Dad brings home the first demon. Fenton begs him not to kill her. Dad says if he could spare Fenton, he would. 28:47

13- 0:59 – Back to Agent Doyle and adult "Fenton." Doyle asks if it really happened. 29:46

14- 1:05 – Dad lays hands on, reveals, then kills the first demon. 30:51

15- 2:16 – They bury the demon in the rose garden. Fenton threatens to tell. Dad says if he does, someone will die. The angel was clear on that. 34:07

16- 1:26 – Back to FBI. Meeks tells Doyle the God's Hand killer probably put all of the bodies in the rose garden. 35:33

17- 1:05 – Doyle makes Meeks put on cuffs. When they get in the car, Meeks avoids touching Doyle. 36:38

18- 1:43 – In the car, Doyle accuses Meeks of hiding something. Meeks asks again about Doyle's mother. Doyle says his mother was murdered and they never caught the killer. 38:21

19- 2:09 – Back to 1979: a little taste of normalcy until they come home to find a new van in the driveway. 40:30

20- 0:29 – They come in to find Dad looking up the address of the next demon. 40:59

21- 1:43 – They find the demon and wait for him. Fenton doesn't want to do his part. 42:42

22- 0:31 – Dad knocks out the demon and Fenton freezes up. 43:13

23- 0:58 – They destroy the second demon. Dad tells him, "You can't escape God's wrath." 44:11

24- 1:25 – In the rose garden, Fenton tells Adam that Dad kills people. Adam says he sees it when Dad touches them. 45:36

25- 0:30 – Dad comes in to wake Fenton up. He's pissed. 46:06

26- 1:12 – Dad says the angel visited him. Fenton can't see the truth because he doesn't have faith. 47:18

27- 2:42 – Dad makes Fenton dig a hole and tells him to pray. Fenton digs, but he doesn't pray. He hates God. 50:00

28- 2:15 – Dad finds out Fenton didn't use gloves and says he's proud of him. 52:15

29- 1:55 – Fenton finishes what he calls the Dungeon. 54:10

30- 1:11 – They get another demon, but Fenton runs from his duty. 55:21

31- 0:50 – Fenton tells the sheriff and insists on showing him. 56:11

32- 0:55 – Dad invites the sheriff inside. 57:06

33- 1:34 – Fenton wants Dad to take the sheriff into the cellar/Dungeon. Dad says, "If it has to be done, it has to be done." He asks Fenton, "Does it have to be done?" 58:40

34- 2:16 – Dad kills the sheriff and throws up. As the sheriff dies, Dad says, "May God welcome you and keep you." 60:56

35- 1:05 – Dad tells Fenton he was forced to commit murder because of him. Dad almost kills Fenton, but Adam stops him. 62:01

36- 3:40 – Dad tells Fenton the angel said Fenton is a demon. He can't kill him, so he locks him in the cellar/Dungeon. 65:41

37- 2:04 – Adam brings water for Fenton to drink through the knothole. He tells Fenton he'll be in there a week. 67:45

38- 0:20 – Back to Doyle and Meeks, who says it was dark in the hole. 68:05

39- 1:58 – Back in the cellar/Dungeon, Fenton goes beyond fear, beyond insanity, and sees God. 70:03

40- 0:58 – Fenton tells Dad he saw God. Adam says, "No fair. All I get to see is demons and Fenton gets to see God." "Yes, but look what a price he paid," Dad says. 71:01

41- 3:01 – Fenton says he's ready to help Dad. The demon nearly gets them, but Fenton distracts him long enough for Dad to knock him out. 74:02

42- 3:11 – As they prepare to kill the demon, Dad says, "I've been waiting for this moment ever since this all started." Fenton replies, "I'm ready to do my duty." You gotta love the irony of this dialogue. Then Fenton kills Dad. 77:13

43- 2:05 – In the car, Meeks winds up the story. Doyle asks if Adam ever told. 79:18

44- 0:30 – Doyle and Meeks walk through the rose garden. Doyle asks about the promise (mentioned in an earlier scene). 79:48

45- 0:51 – Back to the kids one more time. As they bury Dad in the rose garden, Fenton tells Adam, "Promise me if you ever destroy me, you'll bury me in the rose garden." Adam says, "I promise to God." 80:39

46- 1:20 – Doyle is confused until Meeks reveals he is Adam Meeks, not Fenton Meeks. 81:59

47- 3:02 – Scene #3 replays, only this time Adam, the real Adam, kills Fenton with Dad's tools. Fenton was the real God's Hand serial killer all along. 85:01

48- 3:34 – Intercut between the rose garden and flashback of Doyle's mother's death. Doyle is the one who murdered his mother. Adam says, "I've always believed." All those people really were demons posing as humans. 88:46

49- 1:52 – At FBI headquarters, the surveillance tapes are blurred and the other agents can't remember what "Fenton" looked like. God has blinded them. 90:38

50- 3:22 – The agent who spent the most time with Meeks visits Adam to tell him about his brother's death and murder spree. Adam is the sheriff of the small town where he lives. His wife is Becky, who answered the phone and told Doyle the story about the stolen ambulance. Adam and Becky tell each other, "God's will has been served." "Praise God." 94:00

There are 50 major scenes that average 1 minute and 53 seconds in length. Only one is over 4 minutes long and twelve are less than a minute long. This is a very fast-paced movie.