Them That Follow
**Seen at the 2019 Atlanta Film Festival.**
Faith is a fundamental part of human existence. Whether it’s the faith we show that a higher power will guide our path through life, whether a loved one will follow through on a promise they’ve made to us, or whether that car we bought will work, faith is something we all show at different points in our lives. Britt Poulton and Dan Savage’s “Them That Follow” is about the first type of faith primarily, but it’s also about the faith we put in other people. People will inevitably let us down, however; will God?
This film is about a community of people cut off from the rest of society, not just geographically, but spiritually. They are pentacostal snake handlers, and they are seen over by the pastor (Lemuel, played by the perfect Walton Goggins), whom lives with his daughter, Mara (Alice Englert), not far from their church. Mara and her best friend, Dilly (Kaitlyn Dever), are going to the general store run by one of Lemuel’s parish, Hope (the fantastic Olivia Colman), but Mara has a secret item to get, one that might have to do with the boy (Augie, played by Thomas Mann) we first see her with. We can already figure out what it is; as she tries to navigate the situation, how will it bleed over into the rest of the community?
I feel like I understand the practice of not just snake handling as an act of faith, but also the belief in faith healing, if one gets bitten, better through watching this riveting drama Poulton and Savage have made. I understand them intellectually, at least, although I would never allow myself to be the subject of faith healing in my own life, and I’ll be caught dead before you even try to hand me a rattlesnake as a test of faith in God. But I understand why this community, these characters, have such strong beliefs in the God they try to serve, and also, why Mara is so conflicted when she realizes that her choices have put her at odds with this community. As with any conservative community, the consequences Mara find herself having to bare can shatter a community as tight knit as this, and everything feels like punishment from God. It follows a very expected trajectory, but the performances by this cast make us invested anyway, as well as the objective nature with which Poulton and Savage view these people. There is no judgement, only an honest perspective of events that feel alien to us, but ultimately get to universal truths about humanity that we empathize with, and understand all too well, even if the acts on display are beyond what we know in our own life.
