Faultless
Constance’s luck in Paris has run out. She finds herself homeless, blacklisted from her career in the real estate industry, and out of other options. She moves back to her hometown where she had quit her job and her friends without notice some years earlier. Desperate, she reconnects with the boyfriend she left behind and asks him to get her old job back from her ex-boss. Instead, the boss hires a much younger woman who will work for less than a living wage. Constance reacts by posing as an apartment hunter under an assumed name to insert herself into this woman’s life. Still jobless and with little else to do, Constance becomes increasingly obsessed and stalker-y with her young rival.
Faultless is a stunning exploration of obsession and madness from first time feature director Sébastien Marnier. There are almost shades of something like ‘Talented Mr Ripley’ in this film but it’s so subtle and Constance is so inherently sympathetic that you’ll find yourself quietly rooting for her till the end. Faultless hides little surprises in every scene and things are never exactly as they appear to be. It keeps you guessing and transfixed to the very end. The film is a slow burn but with these surprises, and an incredible turn by Marina Foïs as Constance, it is never ever slow.
Adam Ruhl is a writer and life long Cinephile. He is the Executive
Cinema Editor of Pop Culture Beast’s Austin branch; covering festivals,
conventions, and new releases. When not filing reports, Adam can be
found stalking Alamo Drafthouse Programmers for leads on upcoming
DrafthouseFilms titles. Adam once blocked Harry Knowles entrance to a
theater until he was given extra tickets to a Roman Polanski movie.