Will keep the audience guessing about what forces are really at play in this genre-bender, yet doesn't necessarily come to a satisfying conclusion.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 20, 2023

"Surprisingly, director Stearns spends little time navigating the physical world of 'Faults'; he takes a minimalist approach and produces a game of psychological chess."

| Jul 1, 2022

Orser and Winstead don't just seem ever-present with each other in their spats, but play up the physicality of their characters, whether it's Orser's shrunken sadsack demeanor or Winstead's expressive eyes that speak.

| Nov 20, 2018

Faults is a resourceful black comedy that works effectively and never strays away from its pedigree of outrageous misfortune. This is one psychological character study that demonstrates its motivation for unconventional strife with devilish conviction.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 10, 2018

Director Riley Stearns' new film is a conceptually adventurous black comedy about the world of cults, making for a metaphysical thriller that is captivating from the very start.

| Nov 9, 2018

If you are open to storytelling via character building sharply explained through performance and dialogue - then give way to Faults.

| Original Score: 6.5/10 | Oct 24, 2018

Stearns crafts a slow-forming film, establishing atmosphere and tension.

| Original Score: B | Jun 21, 2016

Faults is a taught and charismatic work, and also the latest film to tackle the subject of cults in a quietly earnest way.

| Mar 4, 2016

By the time the film gets where it's going, viewers may identify more than they expect with those who've been controlled by others with hidden agendas.

| Mar 4, 2016

Its final reveal is the sort of beautiful Twilight Zone fillip you see coming only about 10 seconds before it arrives, and I recommend seeing the movie without reading anything further about it: The payoff is that good.

| Mar 4, 2016

The strongest aspects of "Faults" stem from its completely unpredictable atmosphere. You might anticipate the twists before they arrive, but not the way they feel.

| Original Score: B+ | Mar 4, 2016

We'd recommend knowing as little about it as possible, but we'll open by saying that it's funny, it's puzzling, and it's utterly beguiling.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 10, 2015

Psychologically thrilling, yet oddly and darkly comic at times, Faults is an intense character study that gets under your skin and sends chills up your spine.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Sep 4, 2015

There are indeed some faults, but not enough to derail the fascinating mind games being staged in this low-budget drama.

| May 1, 2015

Faults is at times horrifyingly funny-before it becomes just plain horrifying-carried by stellar performances even when it falters.

| Original Score: 7.7/10 | Mar 12, 2015

Faults is a darkly funny and often unsettling study in psychological control, a terrific vehicle for two talented performers and a remarkably assured debut for writer-director Riley Stearns.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Mar 9, 2015

Stearns's film presents a risky black-box proposition: what happens when you put the potentially rote dynamics between cult member and deprogrammer in a stage play-like setting? In this case, the result is a satisfying, small-scale success.

| Mar 6, 2015

Although it fumbles with several obvious twists ... Faults makes for an interesting debut and a compelling two-hander between a pair of generally under-served actors.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Mar 6, 2015

"Faults" is a richly-textured movie that concerns the weird space between thinking you know what you're doing, and actually knowing what you're doing.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 6, 2015

A mind is a terrible thing to lose!

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 5, 2015