Faults

Cast & Crew

Leland Orser

Ansel

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Claire

Chris Ellis

Dad

David Chandler

Riley the Waiter

Jon Gries

Terry

Lance Reddick

Mick

Beth Grant

Evelyn

Suzan Averitt

Photo Studio Customer

Kellie Matteson

Jennifer

Riley Stearns

Director

Riley Stearns

Screenwriter

Roxanne Benjamin

Producer

Keith Calder

Producer

Chris Harding

Producer

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Producer

Jessica Calder

Producer

Brian Joe

Executive Producer

Michael Ragen

Cinematographer

Sarah Beth Shapiro

Film Editing

Heather McIntosh

Original Music

James Connelly

Production Design

Leah Mann

Set Decoration

Emily Batson

Costume Design

Courtney Bright

Casting

Nicole Daniels

Casting

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for Faults

Now Streaming: The Water Diviner, The Terminator, Rocky I-V, and More

Critics Consensus: Chappie‘s Parts Don’t Quite Fit Together

View All

Critic Reviews for Faults

Audience Reviews for Faults

• Aug 16, 2016

  Brilliantly written and fantastically acted idiosyncratic drama (think Coen Brothers crossed with David Lynch by way of Tracy Letts). Leland Orser (who I only knew before from his excellent work on ER) and Mary-Elizabeth Winstead are terrific, the story is gripping, both disturbing and often darkly funny, and the film feels cinematic even though it's mostly consigned to a single motel room. A joy.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Mar 14, 2016

  I'm kinda surprised that this movie sort of snuck underneath the radar. Yes, the film was really well-reviewed among critics, and audiences too if the scores on this site are to be believed, but it just never seemed to impact as far as word-of-mouth goes. Movies like The Guest, You're Next or Starry Eyes, while all independent films, benefited from word of mouth on social media, blogs, etc. Not saying this film is similar in structure and thematic, but people that liked those aforementioned films are the same audience that this movie would appeal to. So it's surprising no one really talked about this movie, particularly when it's so damn good. I don't wanna say that the reason the film didn't really haven any word-of-mouth, to my knowledge, is the fact that the film is a little more 'talky', but I did find it a little more psychological as opposed to films where there's a lot more going in the same amount of time. Nothing about the film surprised me in terms of going to unexpected places, like I knew at least the main 'plot twist', if you will, but I still do like how the film played with your expectations in how it was getting to that conclusion. This might sound like a cliche, but it's about the journey and not necessarily the destination. And the film was really smart in how it completely switched both characters from one end of the spectrum to another. Ansel Roth is a character who has pretty much lost everything after the suicide of a woman whom he tried to deprogram. His wife has left him, he's lost his show, his reputation is in shambles. He is a broken man and, really, if you look at where the film ended up and what Ira's intentions were, then you know that choosing Ansel for whatever Ira's motives were was a perfect move. Cause Ansel is the man that can change the perception about Faults cult and the film, really, is Ira's manipulation of Ansel to get him to, pretty much, join their cult. Plain and simple. It was a pretty ingenious way to tell the story and I thought it worked because the character development and writing is really strong. And the acting is excellent as well. Leland Orser, who plays Ansel, has this weariness about him, like the entire weight of the world, or at least his own guilt over his actions, is completely dragging him down and destroying his life and his reputation as an expert on cults and how to deprogram people. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is also fantastic in the movie and Claire's transformation throughout the film is really interesting to see. I think the film might be accused by some of moving at a slow pace and I can certainly see and sympathize with that. The pieces of this film's puzzle, really, start to come together when there's 30 or so minutes left. This means that close to an hour of film has already gone by. I think that might bother some people, and I can't blame them, but it didn't really bother me because I knew that all of this set-up was gonna end up playing out in the climax of the film in a satisfactory fashion. I have no problem with a more deliberate pace if it ends up being to the film's benefit in the end. But, really, it's all about the character. It's all about Ansel and Claire and their interaction, yes, Ira's manipulation and ultimate indoctrination of Ansel is at the center of the story, but you don't get there without Claire and Ansel building their relationship throughout the movie, peeling back the layers of both Claire's and Ansel's lives. It's all important and it's all relevant to where this is heading. In many ways, the film really is a disturbing look at how cults work and how they try to break you away from everything you once knew and completely devote your time and attention to them. It might not be disturbing in the traditional sense, but there's something believable about how the film plays out. So, if you couldn't tell, I really liked this movie a lot. Great acting and really smart writing make this movie into a supremely interesting experience. It's definitely one of those sleeper movies. I'd definitely recommend it.
  

  jesse o Super Reviewer
• Feb 02, 2016

  After a enduring a good movies drought for a few months, I had the great luck of picking this from my lengthy Netflix queue. Suspenseful, gripping, and cerebral, this is the best psychological thriller I've seen since Headhunters or Jen Lynch's Surveillance. The main character is sadly, starkly real: a man who's dedicated his life to de-brainwashing cult members and writing books about cults that now finds himself in severe dire straits, desperate for money and diminished from his past success. He reluctantly takes a case from an aging couple who claims their daughter has been brainwashed. Soon, his psychic space and hers (the daughter's) blend, and he loses grip of reality. He's a man used to unusual territory, but this is a new era of weird, unusual, and sketchy for this old pro. A Must See
  

  Super Reviewer
• Oct 03, 2015

  Mindblowing and awesome. Worth seeing...I would recommend this to anyone. The ending is absolutely crazy.
  

  Stephen S Super Reviewer