THEM THAT FOLLOW (2019)
Starring Kaitlyn Dever, Walton Goggins, Olivia Colman
Directed by Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage
Written by Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage
Distributed by The Orchard. 98 minutes. Opening this Friday at The Landmark.
Before she was the melodramatic Queen of England in Yorgos Lanthimos’ period comedy The Favourite, Olivia Colman was the matriarch of a much smaller community that hid in the backwoods of the Appalachian wilderness in order to live out their unconventional religious practices involving exorcisms and snake handling. From directing duo Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage, Them That Follow is a haunting look at the dangers of blind faith and poisonous snakes.
With doe eyes and natural beauty shining through her tattered, yet conservative, clothing, Mara’s (Alice Englert) staunch religious beliefs have been instilled in her from an early age. As the only daughter of the town’s preacher, Lemuel (Walton Goggins), Mara’s moral compass aligns with his, partly because that’s all she knows, and also because she feels like she has no other choice. It’s no surprise then, that Mara agrees to marry a man of her father’s choosing, local townie and fellow congregation-goer Garret (Lewis Pullman). But she is torn knowing deep down that her heart belongs to Augie (Thomas Mann), a local boy who is skeptical of her Pentecostal religion and the small-minded Appalachian community.
Augie’s mother, Hope (Olivia Colman), wants Mara far away from her son but those demands fall on deaf ears after Mara learns she is pregnant with Augie’s baby. Hope is concerned for the future of her son, convincing him to go to church with her and repent for his sins. Augie, who wants to keep the peace within his immediate family while proving to Mara that he is the man she should be marrying, agrees to undergo a dangerous Pentecostal act- holding up a poisonous snake to ask God for mercy. But when things go awry, Mara is forced to question her religion as she feels Augie pulling her in a direction that is opposite of her father.
Original music composition by Garth Stevenson, with his signature experimental cinematic style, creates additional eeriness to the already mysterious Pentecostal community. The natural world in Them That Follow meets supernatural incidents and cinematographer Brett Jutkiewicz captures this specific aesthetic by focusing on the dark, earthy color tones of both the costumes and the setting.
Them That Follow was quickly bought by Sony Pictures after its world premiere at Sundance, resulting in Poulton and Savage successfully adding another disturbing religious film to the growing cult canon. Fans of other occult musings, like Wild Wild Country, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, and practically half of what’s streaming on Netflix, will no doubt find this film entertaining, but its slow-pacing and heavy focus on Mara’s internal struggles over external ones give Them That Follow an intentionally artful approach to a subject which may somewhat bore more mainstream consumers. There is action here, but the viewer must be patient and give in to the film’s long-winded suspense in order to reap that reward.
This review originally ran on February 6, 2019, during the Sundance Film Festival
