FAULTS American Independents

Ansel Roth has seen better days. A once-revered authority on mind control and the go-to guy for families hoping to save brainwashed loved ones from cults, he now bargains with cheap hotels for free meals in return for promoting his new book to near-empty rooms, all the while dodging his thuggish publishers and sleeping in his car. Broken and lonely, he can’t turn down a lucrative offer from a strange old couple: Kidnap their daughter and de-program her from the cult that has her in its grasp. Anchored by arresting performances from its two compelling leads, Leland Orser and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who also produces), Riley Stearns’ freshman feature offers a tightly wound script and impressive tonal command. FAULTS shifts effortlessly from humor to pathos and back, proving itself one of year’s most assured independent thrillers.