Faults is a 2015 indie drama film directed by Riley Stearns and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Leland Orser. It is such a disappointing and mediocre movie.
It follows a cult specialist who is asked by worried parents to cure their daughter who is under the influence of a cult. Yes, the premise is very intriguing and of course timely which is why I was so interested to see Faults. But it’s executed just terribly. It starts promising and yes, the first half has its moments and nice discussions, but the second half is anything but with an overreliance on some unfortunate choices such as gore, violence and some very disgusting scenes.
The whole third act succumbs to the usual territory of many of those disgusting films they used to make back in the seventies. And that is why the movie fails on every level. The dialogues, once intriguing, become replaced by these awful happenings and some really mediocre twists. All of these just ruined it for me.
Ansel Roth is okay as the protagonist, a realistically depicted specialist. Claire is also quite good, but her parents not so much and some other characters involved in criminal activities are annoying. Yes, about those activities. The movie also has a subplot which is very criminal in nature and that is probably the worst aspect of the film along with its sick nature. That choice from the filmmakers was unfortunate, doesn’t mash at all with the bigger picture and is just frustrating to watch.
The acting is solid, but nothing too remarkable. Yes, Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives a rather stupendous performance and Leland Orser is really good, but even those two can be weak at certain times. And the rest of the actors, especially those acting the parents, are just so incredibly weak and they all gave uninspired performances in a movie that needed stronger performers.
Faults is technically forgettable. It is well shot and the directing from Riley Stearns is quite good, but the pacing is not that great and the movie although smart at the beginning, got very stupid later on and it went into an action, even blockbuster kind of territory that is just ridiculous. And as for its emotional investment, it is like its central characters Claire and Roth, very distant, cold and shallow. I never connected with either of the characters and I should have. The movie just never made a choice of which person to follow and what action to take. It is such a mess from a creative standpoint and an indie that could have been great, but isn’t even good in the end. Not to mention that it is incredibly overrated because critics generally praise it for some reason when in actuality, it is riddled with inherent flaws.
Faults is such a disappointing and mediocre movie. It has quite good first half with interesting discussions and the action is okay, but it succumbed into ridiculous territory later on with an overreliance on stupid violence and twists that ruined it for me. It could have been a good movie, but its great premise is never executed properly and it’s just a frustrating experience.
