FAQs

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Everett Lewis directs. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Released 21 years ago.
• 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 4Joe Lia and Allan Louis and Lance Lee Davis carry the top of the cast.
• 5Marketing tagline: "From the director of Natual History of Parking Lots and Luster".
• 6IMDB entry: tt0396587 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 7Only 20 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Runtime

90 min · 1h 30m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

FAQs (2005) ↗

Also by

Everett Lewis

• 
  Luster

  2002 · ★ 5.6
• 
  Somefarwhere

  2011 · ★ 4.6
• 
  Lucky Bastard

  2009 · ★ 4.2
• 
  Skin & Bone

  1996 · ★ 4.2
• 
  The Natural History of Parking Lots

  1990 · ★ 4.0
• 
  An Ambush of Ghosts

  1993 · ★ 3.8

Community reviews

What people are saying

• tmdb766221952023-09-27
  ★ 6/10

  This odd film is a touching and frustrating look at gay bashing victims, and the bashers themselves. India (Joe Lia), fresh from getting ripped off by a local porno director in L.A., is attacked by Guy (Adam Larson) and Quentin (Josh Paul). India is saved by a pistol-packing drag queen named Destiny (a sensational Allan Louis), who takes India home. India, Destiny, and troubled lesbian Lester (Minerva Vier) form an odd family unit, continually haranguing the straights who always seem to be lurking around with an insulting comment or threats of violence. India takes in Spencer (Lance Lee Davis), a very troubled young man obsessed with killing his abusive parents with a homemade bomb. India follows through on a theory that Guy and Quentin are gay, while Destiny falls for a neighborhood police detective (Vince Parenti). The family find themselves tempted with the same violent impulses they have been subjected to in the past. Writer and director Everett Lewis delivers an allegory that draws moral lines in the sand before quickly blurring those borders. The quasi-family see themselves as victims, not aware of what they are capable of. Lewis tells the story, only standing on a soapbox in the last few scenes. The cast is good, with Louis' Destiny a stand out. The film's look is heavily saturated and dark. I was never sure where Lewis was going with his script, expecting both "The Last Supper"-type murderous satire, then "To Wong Foo..."-type tolerance messages. I did feel many of the characters were written too broadly. India and Spencer look too handsome and healthy for the streets, and Quentin's over-the-top trailer redneck seems out of place in a West Hollywood setting. I am still wondering why the character Lester is even here, as she always seems to be "at work," never becoming a major player in the plots. Many, many of the climactic lines fall flat- declarations of love that are forced. Lewis does enough to slightly recommend "FAQs" (terrible title), from the creepy Texas Republican Party platform opening crawl, to speaking out against violence from bashers and their victims alike. With this willing cast, I guess I wanted to see more focus in the script.

  Read full review ↓

Key crew

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• lgbt

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2005-07-16PG-13