Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 74% (Critics) / 77% (Audience)
Directed By: Bill Paxton
Written By: Brent Hanley
Starring: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe
Studio: Lions Gate Films

Synopsis: A man confesses to an FBI agent his family’s story of how his religious fanatic father’s visions lead to a series of murders to destroy supposed “demons.”
(Source)

The Good:
I absolutely loved the concept of this movie and the way the history of this family was told in flashback style. I also thought the ambiguity of whether or not Bill Paxton’s character was truly the chosen hand of God or whether he was just a sad man with schizophrenia.
The performances were top notch too. Everyone did really great work with special kudos going to Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Matt O’Leary and the always reliably oily Powers Booth.
The twist at the end and the use of narrative misdirection were also strong selling points that truly and pleasantly surprised me. I give Paxton a lot of credit for how well he did directing this film in his first time behind the camera..

The Bad:
As much as I liked the flashbacks being told from the viewpoint of one of the children I would have loved to see a bit more of what was going on with “Dad” and how he was coping with his new responsibilities when alone with just his own thoughts.

The Ugly:
There were some points where the movie seemed to slow to a snail’s pace as Paxton made the choice to linger a little too long on some scenes.

Final Verdict: A strong directorial debut for solid supporting actor Paxton. He gets wonderful performances from his actors and navigates through this film in a very direct and no-frills way. The movie is sometimes hard to watch with many moments that make you want to look away and a nice twist at the end that felt very satisfying. B