Them That Follow is a religious movie set in a small community in the Appalachian Mountains. It revolves around the handling of serpents. And the picture you just drew in your head is exactly as it sounds. The individual who has sinned is forced to handle a poisonous serpent. This snake embodies the devil, sin, evil, etc. The snake is draped around the sinner’s neck. You are washed free of your sins if the snake doesn’t bite you. If the snake does bite you, it should be your faith in God that is strong enough for you to overcome the venom without any medical assistance. Creepy enough? Of course. And so we have a story here in which we know the serpent will strike. It becomes a question of who the serpent will strike and when it will strike them. There should be no bones about it. This is what is going to happen. But it still makes for an enchanting ride.

Alice Englert (Top of the Lake) stars as our protagonist Mara, a (mostly) rule-following late teenage daughter of a town preacher and its unquestioned leader Lemuel Childs (Walton Goggins – F/X’s The Shield, F/X’s Justified). She is set to be married to a young man named Garret (Lewis Pullman), who can’t believe his luck. His religious ties sync up perfectly with Lemuel’s. But how do they sync up with Mara’s? The older she gets, the more she sees her beliefs differing from those of her community, most notably those of her father. It would be great if Mara loved Garret. But Mara doesn’t love him.

Instead, she loves the slightly scruffy and independent Augie (Thomas Mann – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Kong: Skull Island). However, their romance is known by a handful of people as Augie no longer attends church, succumbing (as the townsfolk say) to the temptations of the devil. Mara and Augie know that Lemuel would never agree with his daughter marrying a non-believer. If their relationship became public, Lemuel would likely disown his daughter, with the rest of the community shunning her. She’s in a no-win situation when we learn that she is pregnant with his baby in one of the film’s opening scenes.

Appalachia is the perfect backdrop for this religious practice that you would think would be banned from society. But you escape organized law enforcement if you get deep enough in the woods (or the mountains). Communities make up their own rules and pick their own leaders. That’s what we have here with Lemuel. He is the revered and unquestioned leader of this sect. He’s a man who is faithful to his lord and puts power behind every single sermon that he gives. Yet, he’s a man who can leave the preacher talk at work and be a somewhat normal father for Mara and, in a way, Dilly as well. He’ll scare you in one scene, his wild eyes doing more speaking than even his booming voice, and then be the sweetest of men in the next. And he does this as only Goggins can do. He’s done it repeatedly in various roles on television and cinema. He is terrific at playing dangerous characters, bringing intensity to his character.

Also starring in the film are Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Iron Lady) and Jim Gaffigan (Chuck, Chappaquiddick) as Augie’s parents, Hope and Zeke, zealously faithful to Pastor Lemuel and willing to follow him rather than listening to common sense when it does anything in life.

As I said, this movie is predictable. But even if you can’t figure out precisely what will happen, you’ll have a few decent guesses about how it’ll play out. The atmosphere is rich, and the casting is richer. Love vs. obligation is a partisan theme here, and Goggins’ Lemuel makes quite the case to follow duty first, even if it means the death of a loved one.

Plot 8/10
Character Development 7/10
Character Chemistry 8/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 7/10
Directing 7.5/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 8/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 7/10
79.5%

C+

• Winter’s Bone
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• Undertow
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