Faults

Great plot and unique. So tired of Marvel and DC and Star Wars retreads. Great acting. Strange vibes. Thought it was a comedy at first. Recommended. It's a nice break from all the tripe.

"Fault is a fracture. It's a place where pressure builds until it releases."

Leland Orser and Mary Elizabeth Winstead star together in this unique dramatic thriller written and directed by Winstead's husband, Riley Stearns. Faults is his feature debut and after this, there is no doubt he's going to be getting more offers because it is a very inventive drama that feels like no other movie because it changes and morphs as the story progresses. It is hard to classify this film because it doesn't feel like any other movie I've seen. Orser plays Ansel Roth, an expert on mind control, but it is clear that his glory days are long behind him. When we are introduced to him he's trying to reuse a coupon for his meal at the hotel where he's giving a speech on his new book about free will. There are very few people who have signed up for his seminar and he's evidently in deep financial trouble. An opportunity for redemption shows up when a couple (played by Chris Ellis and Beth Grant) ask Ansel to help them with their daughter. They say she has changed dramatically after finding a mysterious cult and that they are afraid of losing her. Ansel tells them that he can help but that it is going to cost them. He plans on deprogramming her by kidnapping her and having a five day session with her at an undisclosed location. The girl's name is Claire (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and she claims to be at the happiest point in her life so apparently it won't be an easy job for Ansel who is going through his personal lowest. What follows is a fascinating psychological control study with touches of dark humor and several twists along the way. The less you know about the film going into it the better off you are.

The production team behind Faults is the same one that brought us last year's The Guest and the reinvented slasher horror film You're Next so I was already excited about this film. They present unique projects that at times blend familiar genres or include some sort of surprise element along the way. Faults is a low budget indie film but it never ceases to amaze with a production design that sets the film somewhere around the early 80's although there is no mention of when the story actually takes place. The film is perfectly executed, it has an interesting premise, and the screenplay is beautifully written by Riley Stearns as it transforms along the way. It's not one of those films that tries to fool the audience and then presents a twist that no matter how many times you go back and rewatch it it simply doesn't make any sense. Faults isn't trying to fool us, instead it is simply telling a story that unfolds in unexpected ways as we reach the climactic finale.

Perhaps what stands out the most in Faults are the two leading performances. Leland Orser delivers the best role of his career and it is great to finally see him in a starring role. His character isn't someone we should really sympathize with considering he's simply miserable from the moment we are introduced to him. He's such a loser but somehow Orser manages to engage us and we want him to have his shot at redemption. We believe he actually knows his stuff on mind control and free will but life has given him an unexpected blow that he seems to be able to recover from. On the other hand Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Claire is enigmatic and we never know what she is really thinking. Winstead delivers one of the best performances of her career as well and the two turn Faults into a highly engaging and hypnotic film well worth your time.

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I was very impressed with this film. We follow a down and out Cult novelist who specializes in understanding the methodology of how cults control individuals. The novelist is divorced, homeless, broke, suicidal and in debt with some very nasty former business partner when we meet him. When two parents approach him desperate for help, he agrees to help them with an extreme intervention with their cult involved daughter. The goal is to deprogram her. Arranging a kidnapping, he abducts the girl and isolates her in a motel room for days attempting to mentally break her down and understand her cult programing. It was engaging and completely unpredictable. I'm not totally satisfied how the story concluded but found the entire ride fun and intriguing.

Because near the end of the film, my brains exploded out the top of my head!

But seriously, I actually gave up on this movie after about 20 minutes. I thought that it was trying to be a comedy except it wasn't funny. Fortunately I was curious enough to keep watching, and I soon realized that the beginning wasn't exactly trying to be funny; it was trying to be pathetic, and it succeeded. That was days ago, and I am still thinking about this movie. The brutally honest truth is that I feel a bit terrified because the main guy sadly reminds me of myself, and I don't know that I would have handled the situation any differently than he did. :( Tip for viewers: This is not exactly a comedy. In my book, it is more like a psychological horror. If you like the beginning, you may not like the 2nd half. And if you think the whole thing is unrealistic, I am sorry to break the sad news to you that this kind of thing happens ALL THE TIME. --sniff--

This is certainly not quite the movie I thought it was going to be. The premise plainly welcomes a purely dramatic approach to the narrative, but film-maker Riley Stearns also adopts a very dry, dark comedic tone that's mostly more direly awkward than funny. 'Faults' is a movie for a very niche audience.

It's such an oddity. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a great actress who has more than proven herself in a dynamic variety of roles, and her wry mannerisms are a treasure. She readily holds our attention with every passing scene. Chris Ellis and Beth Grant are both solid performers with a long list of credits between them. Yet it's Leland Orser, characteristically a supporting player in any given feature, who has the lead role in 'Faults.' Capable and steady though he is in any part, here he deftly maneuvers the demands of the protagonist - and more than that, he's a swell scene partner with Winstead. The crumbling confidence Orser bears as Ansel works in wonderful tandem with Winstead's resolute calm to keep us engaged, even through early scenes that are rough around the edges. The phenomenal turn that comes in the last segment of the film, giving 'Faults' brilliant new life, allows Winstead to take center stage, and we see the force of personality she carries so well. The much more nuanced portrayals she and Orser give us near the conclusion are alone worth the ride.

I just wish the rest of the movie were as consistently superb as the last 20 or so minutes. The acrid sense of humor about the screenplay doesn't mesh well with the dramatic overtones - in fact, it feels more like a clash for no small part of the runtime. The twist turns everything on its head, but 'Faults' relies too much on that exhilarating development to shoulder the heft of the picture. There's a long sense of something missing, of the constituent parts just not entirely clicking in the way that's intended. That's unfortunate, because considered as a whole, this really is a pretty fantastic movie.

It's a fine view for a general audience, though fans of the cast - and of Winstead especially - will find this most rewarding. A marvelous ending mostly makes up for the frailties that peek through earlier in the movie, and while uneven, this is very much worth watching. 'Faults' isn't what I anticipated - and ultimately, I'm thankful for that.