3. Faults

When is Mary Elizabeth Winstead going to get her due? She is a great actress who has shown her talents in a multitude of films, yet she still doesn’t seem to get name-dropped that often when discussing popular actresses. Winstead completely owns Faults, a film about Claire, a woman who has been taken in by a cult and is later kidnapped by Ansel Roth (Leland Order, also great), a renowned cult deprogrammer when her parents offer him a boatload of cash. Much of what follows takes place in a motel room as Roth and his assistants get to work on Claire. It’s a tour de force performance from both Winstead and Orser, with Beth Grant and Chris Ellis giving moving performances as Claire’s parents. Faults shows a brutal side to one perspective on cult life and grips you from the very beginning and doesn’t let go until it’s jaw-dropping end.