Steff (Sarah Rich) practicing her serve as “Fault” opens. (Robert E. Newman photo).

In slightly less than 15 minutes Writer/Director Misha Calvert  of “Fault” takes us into the history of two sisters, tennis prodigies, who were both molested by the same male coach.

The successful younger sister, Steff (Sarah Rich), is still under the control of the never onscreen male voice, who is warning Steff against listening to her older sister, Gigi (Coco Jourdana).

Beginning

Sarah Rich as Steff in Misha Calvert’s “Fault” at the HollyShorts Film Festival. (Photo by Robert E. Newman, Director of Photography).

We see Steff practicing serving on her own private tennis court, adjacent to a fantastic mansion-like home. The sets and set decorations are outstanding, as is the music, with an original score by Stuart Michael Thomas and featuring the original song “I’m Gonna’ Haunt You,” sung by Fabienne Delso of Damaged Good Records.

End

Fifteen minutes isn’t much time to tell a story as complicated as Coco Jourdana’s. The screaming ending for the fifteen minutes of furious charge and counter-charge probably seemed like a good idea at the time.

Gigi (Coco Jourdana) arrived at her sister’s home primed for confrontation. At the door, sister Steff says, “I only have an hour.” Gigi responds, “I drove for four.” (Photo by Director of Photography Robert E. Newman).

After all, where else can you take a plot this complex in 14 minutes and 25 seconds? The real interesting story here is the backstory, which is supposedly based on actual events in the life of co-star Coco Jourdana  (Gigi).