Faults (7/10): Hypnotic film about mind control and free will

“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.

The Guest (7/10): Director Adam Wingard will always be welcomed on my screen

“You did the right thing. I don't blame you.”

The Guest had me sold at “From the director of You’re Next” because I absolutely loved that slasher film and vowed to watch any upcoming project from director Adam Wingard. Fortunately I didn’t have to wait more than a year, and The Guest came along. It may have not lived up to the hype, but it still was a fun stylized action thriller. Wingard knows how to blend genres effortlessly and despite having a familiar tone at times he delivers on the twists and switches gears on the audience. So despite borrowing elements from different movies, the way in which he blends them together allows for the film to feel fresh and unique. The Guest is heavily stylized and it plays out as sort of an 80’s retro film with stylized visuals and a fantastic electro score which helps build the tension. Even the font during the opening credits is reminiscent of those early 80’s films. The soundtrack along with Dan Stevens’s performance reminded me of Drive, another sort of retro 80’s movie. The Guest is an eerie and stylish film that builds tension so well during the first half of the movie that it makes it hard to shake off during the second half and leaves us expecting a little more. It is still a lot of fun and works as both an action thriller and a horror film accompanied with a small dose of ridiculous humor. The writer and director duo of Simon Barret and Adam Wingard are quietly turning into one of my favorite partnerships and I hope they continue to work together blending genres and stretching those familiar conventions into something unique and fresh.

Just as I couldn’t see You’re Next working without the superb performance from Sharni Vinson, there is no way that The Guest could’ve worked without Dan Stevens’s magnetic and cool performance. He is sensational and is a big reason why the buildup and the tension in the first half of the film worked so well. Stevens manages to be charming and menacing at the same time making it hard to guess what his real intentions are. The guy knows how to glare and smile really well. He has the chops to become a movie star. He plays Dave, a soldier who introduces himself to a family by claiming he was good friends with their deceased son. There is something suspicious about him, but he is so charming at the same time. The parents of the family who receives him are played by Sheila Kelley and Leland Orser, and their two children are played by Brendan Meyer and Maika Monroe. I didn’t really care for the parents in this film, but Meyer and Monroe deliver solid supporting roles. Monroe reminded me of a young Gwen Stefani and she is also someone I look forward to seeing in future films. Barrett knows how to write interesting main characters because he has made both Vinson and Stevens look great in their films. The Guest didn’t blow me away like You’re Next, but I still had a fun time with this blender of a film. The score alone is worth your time, and there was a moment halfway through the film where it is the actual score that announces the change of tone and structure that we are about to get.