Them That Follow

Them That Follow

Starring Alice Englert, Walton Goggins, Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever

Directed by Britt Poulton & Dan Madison Savage

The Story:
In a small Appalachian town, young Mara Childs (Alice Englert) is a devout snake-handling Pentecostal, under her father Pastor Lemuel Childs (Walton Goggins).  Lemuel holds a very tight reign over his congregation, and everyone is heavily indoctrinated in the process, especially Hope Slaughter (Olivia Colman) and her husband Zeke (Jim Gaffigan), but not their son Augie (Thomas Mann).

Mara and Thomas begin a relationship despite knowing it could lead to her being ostracized by the church, and Mara discovers she's pregnant.  She hides the pregnancy and turns back to the church, and even agrees to marry fellow church member Garret (Lewis Pullman), despite having strong feelings for Augie.  As she struggles to keep her secret, it also threatens to divide the town and spiral everyone into a downward spiral of depravity.

The Synopsis:
When M. Night Shyamalan released "The Happening," the only good thing about it was the fact that it was filmed in the same area where I went to college, and I saw landmarks on screen that I visited often.  It was a neat thing because we don't normally see our own towns on the big screen, and then I moved back to Ohio, and found out that they filmed this small independent film called "Them That Follow" in my area, so I was again looking forward to seeing landmarks I knew.  Unfortunately, the film tended to not shoot anywhere public, and honestly it looked like it could've been filmed anywhere, but still at least I was treated to an alright story - which is better than what I could say for "The Happening."

"Them That Follow" gives a strong character study, but does so at the expense of a comprehensive storyline.  The basic premise of the film centers on a young girl whose father is the pastor of a snake handling church, who falls away and gets pregnant by a former parishioner and questions her own faith, while also maintaining her secret pregnancy.  The film doesn't really delve into the aspects of snake handling, which would've been a much more compelling story, but it still manages to give a unique look in the mysterious world and how the heck anyone would consider that to be a good thing.

Snake handler churches are illegal, but still practice mostly in the Appalachians, and involves a religious sect who believe they can handle snakes (as is stated in the Bible in Mark 16:17-18 - "and these signs will accompany those who believe; in My name they will cast our demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them"), and if they can successfully handle a snake without being bitten, then they're deemed worthy and have the Spirit in them.  However, if they get bit, then it shows that their faith was lacking, and they don't have the Spirit, and most dangerously they don't take them to a hospital, but just pray for them and if they survive then it's God's will, and if not - that's God's will as well.  Many religions take one verse of the Bible out of context, but this sect is the most dangerous, because they literally play with death.

The film explores the maniacal devotion to this sect, and how it threatens to destroy everyone within - not just by handling literal snakes, but the proverbial snakes that threaten to strike without warning.  While some may see the events that happen as "God's judgment," it's actually the over-exaggeration of those fanatical followers and their equally over-exaggerated methods of finding solutions to problems that could be solved way easier than they should.

Newcomer Alice Englert dominates the screen as Mara, a young girl who's conflicted with her religious upbringing against her love for an outsider, and struggling with hiding a pregnancy that threatens to ruin her peaceful existence.  She tells a story just with her expressions, and thankfully doesn't resort to the traditional tropes of repeatedly saying she's struggling with something - you can clearly see she's struggling, she doesn't have to keep saying it.

As the veterans in the room, Walter Goggins and Oscar winner Olivia Colman deliver the best roles outside of Englert's.  Goggins' Lemuel rules his small town with an iron fist of religion, and is extremely charismatic and charming, luring in everyone around him - which is pretty much the same type of character Walter Goggins often plays anyway.  As one of Lemuel's most devout followers, Colman's Hope has the most ironic name ever - she doesn't offer much hope, nor does she get much hope in return.  She holds the love of the church above everything - and everyone - else, and is the poster child for fanatical religious devotion.

All of this makes it seem that "Them That Follow" will be an intriguing, gripping, religious thriller, but instead it wastes the talents (and our time) with melodramatic moments that drag the film and makes the already-short runtime feel even longer.  While there's moments of pure brilliance (especially near the end), it's short lived and surrounded by mundane moments that I found myself looking at my phone instead of the screen, then looking back and realizing I didn't really miss anything.  Yet it's far from terrible, and worth a watch to see Alice Englert's performance, as well as the shocking final moments that will definitely have you cringing - especially if you're afraid of snakes.

The Summary:
With a continual feeling of dread, "Them That Follow" features some decent performances set against the backdrop of the mysterious snake handling religion that builds its secrets to a deadly climax - it just takes too long to get there.

The Score: C+