★★★
Where believers handle death-dealing snakes to prove themselves before God, a pastor's daughter holds a secret that threatens to tear her community apart.
Classification: 15
Atmospheric and haunting, while writer-directors Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage create an immersive environment for their tale of dangerous fanaticism and sexual politics the pacing of their thriller leaves audiences abating with interest. Them That Follow feels out of time, following a Pentecostal community in the Appalachian mountains removed from technology and its hard to tell if its set in modern-day due to the character's archaic beliefs in their religion and social structures. Following the main character, Mara Childs portrayed by Alice Englert the pastor's daughter who finds herself pregnant out of wedlock by Auggie, her secret lover who has renounced the church and has been ostracised by the community.
It's a disturbing look into the hold that religion can have over people and exploring how men use this belief of a higher power as an excuse to control others, with the majority of the male characters believing themself superior due to their beliefs. The church and specifically Mara's father portrayed by Walton Goggins incorporates snake-handling into their sermons, desperately lost people all transfixed on the serpent as their true connection to God. The sequences depicting the worshipping, how all the character's rationality is stripped away as they blindly follow the words of Goggins' preacher Lemuel Childs in states of bewildered trance and dance is especially gripping. It's blind unquestioning loyalty to Childs as the ensemble cast is in different states of idolisation and service to sole patriarchy, it's not a cult but a poisoned mindset. Infecting bitter and innocent souls with the promise of enlightenment although as the story unfolds, the hypocrisies behind these beliefs are exposed and force the characters to face their true selves.
The performances and environment are what makes Them That Follow so engrossing, an impressive ensemble led by Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever and Walton Goggins all providing realistic but exaggerated characters. At times the film can feel like the darkest dreariest episode of Justified, due to the dilapidated community having an uncanny resemblance to the neo-western's rural settings of Kentucky but this time no cowboy hat clad lawman is riding in to save the day. In fact, Goggins and Dever portrayed recurring characters in the show and Colman's character has clear similarities with Margo Martindale's iconic villain Mags Bennett. There is even an episode where Goggin's character comes face to face with a Pentecostal snake preacher who wishes to save lost souls from the dark temptations of drugs. It can feel as though we have come full circle as Them That Follow gives us the most Gogginest performance since The Hateful Eight as Walton goes full-blown heavy eloquent southern drawl, righteous passionate preaching all while holding up the sacred snakes.
The true star of the show is Englert's Mara as her torn isolation between her beliefs and her heart make for the compelling drama and tension with the rest of the characters. As the pastor's daughter, she is supposed to be the high example to young women in the community like Dever's impressionable character Dilly and her story is one that condemns patriarchal control on women and the idea that women are the property of men. Her secret pregnancy with Auggie puts her in a difficult situation when she is arranged to be married to one of Lemuel's loyal followers Garret portrayed by the deceptive kindness of Lewis Pullman, a "good hard-working" man. The film has Mara's womanhood be seen as a possession passed from one man to another, there is even a scene where her virginity is checked by Olivia Colman's character like if it were a livestock trade rather than a consensual marriage. Mara is pressured by her faith, family and community into accepting her chosen role despite her feelings for Thomas Mann's Auggie and her displays of emotion or individuality bring forth the nastier truths to Lemuel and Garret's characters.
Them That Follows doesn't shy away from the misogynistic subtext to the characters relationships but with its second half where the themes of family and faith intertwine in a tragic development, this is where the film really shines. Mara and the rest of the characters are caught in a battle of what is more important; family or faith and for many of them those two concepts are deeply intertwined in the community that they are hopelessly beholden to Lemuel's preachings. Decisions made in the film have Poulton and Savage not condemning the character's religious beliefs, some may appear as zealots but it all stems down to their morality and how they use faith to justify cruel actions and hold power over one another. It's a tense game of chicken that develops between the characters as Mara's secret becomes the catalyst for a series of erratic and desperate actions fueled by guilt and fear. However, the pacing of this tension feels drawn out and in some cases anti-climatic as the filmmakers create a series of spiritual payoffs that only feel half earned. Some characters don't get full resolutions and Them That Follows feels like a film that stops just when it reaches its most exciting climaxes.
The cinematography from Brett Jutkiewicz captures this great damp bleak hopeless setting through the sparse Appalachian forests and tall mountains. Its a world left bare and even the scenes where homes and business can be seen it still feels like a confined pocket that no one can escape. There are brief mentions to the consequences of Lemuel's snake preaching, deaths of unseen characters and police visits but its so removed from the audience perspective that the feel just as trapped as Mara in the community. The pale nature to the lighting gives Mara this vulnerable look wherever she is, unable to find any solace from her internal conflict. The fact that Lemuel's church is an environment bathed in yellow and red lights giving the subtle illusion of descending into hell is a visual cue so obvious that works to Goggin's advantage.
It's a great piece of work from Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage delivering captivating performances and themes but the slow manner of direction and pacing does detract from the building of tension to Mara's story. However, by allowing the audience to wallow in the barren helplessness of its characters' lives, one can't help but be drawn to the desire to escape. Either by the will of those who are brave enough to risk their lives and resist the hold of the serpent or to follow the path of those who submit their souls to a false prophet.
Director: #BrittPoulton and #DanMadisonSavage
Cast: #OliviaColman, #KaitlynDever, #AliceEnglert, #JimGaffigan, #WaltonGoggins, #ThomasMann, #LewisPullman
Release Date: November 22nd 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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