Ansel Roth, one of the world's foremost experts on mind control and cults, has hit rough times after a bitter divorce. Living off of pennies aftter his wife took almost everything, Ansel works small hotel conference rooms where he desperately tries to sell his new book. After his most recent seminar, Ansel is approached a middle aged couple who desperately plead for Ansel to help their daughter, Claire, who has recently joined the mysterious cult known as Faults. Desperately in need of money, Ansel agrees to help Claire by taking her forcefully from the cult and putting her through a rigourous mental detox program of sorts. Riley Steam's Faults is one of the more unique narratives to come out in recent years, a quietly disturbing psychological thriller that builds towards its climax with uncertainty and confidence. The film is really a systematic deconstruction of how cults can take hold, subtlely exposing the weak minded emotional state necessary for this type of mind control to take place. The film is well photographed, using over-exposed lighting throughout the film that creates a supernatural feel, almost as if something out there is lurking. Faults shows how the loss of free will, in the ability for a viewer to take control of their lives and their decisions, is a primary fault in letting this type of thing happen, do so in a way that appeals to both intellectual and escapist-fueled viewers. While I would argue that the film doesn't quite pull off its finale, Faults is intentional ambiguous and uses it to great effect, being a well-crafted, extremely well acted slice of fresh filmmaking.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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