THEM THAT FOLLOW: A Confident Debut That Still Falls Short

Thrillers that focus on religious fanaticism have always peaked my interest. Religion, in its basest form, is about people attempting to make sense out of the absurdity of life, and when taken to an extreme, there can be some wildly outlandish results. Just take the recent Midsommar, for example, or many of a variety of movies that focus on the ways that people explain and deal with life’s struggles.

In Them That Follow, the focus is on an isolated community centered around Pastor Lemuel Childs (played by the great Walton Goggins). To prove their religious devotion, they handle venomous snakes, with the thought that God will prove their worthiness and cleanse them if the snake chooses not to bite them. The idea is not a new one, having been practiced in other sects around the world. Unfortunately, Them That Follow, despite some confident direction by first-timers Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage, doesn’t feel very fresh as a whole either.

Talented Cast

Other than Goggins, the film also stars Alice Englert in the center role of Mara Childs, Lemuel’s daughter. Mara, as we soon come to discover, is harboring a secret from the rest of her community, one that could lead to harmful results if revealed. Often with her is her friend Dilly Picket (Kaitlyn Dever), along with future love interest Garret (Lewis Pullman). Rounding out the cast is Olivia Colman, who plays a religiously devoted mother named Hope Slaughter, and her husband Zeke (Jim Gaffigan).

With such a range of talent, one would expect that Them That Follow would at least be memorable on the acting front. Some, like Goggins, do manage to make an impact, especially since Goggins has been sorely wasted in studio films for the last few years, such as in Tomb Raider and Ant-Man and the Wasp. But a role like this truly allows Goggins to shine. At times, he even evokes one of his more famous roles, that of Boyd Crowder in Justified, as both characters manage to captivate a crowd through their commanding presences and power with words. It’s my hope that he will find more worthy roles like this in the future.

The remainder of the cast, though, is often wasted here. Kaitlyn Dever, for example, who was so memorable in Booksmart, here instead plays the quiet best friend, and doesn’t have much of a role to play in the film’s major events. While Colman, hot off her recent Oscar win, does get a bit more to handle, but it still doesn’t feel worthy of her supreme talents. Jim Gaffigan, underrated as an actor, is almost unrecognizable here, though he’s similarly underused.

Alice Englert, a relative newcomer in major films, does have more development than much of the supporting cast, though one can’t help but wish her character arc was more clearly defined. For a film that focuses on religious fanaticism, this character’s struggles with it in particular, especially being the daughter of the pastor, would’ve helped Them That Follow immensely.

The Dangers of Religion

Such is one of the primary flaws of Them That Follow. With a subject as dark and ripe for social commentary as religious fanaticism, one would hope that the film would hit a significant chord. After all, a parallel can be drawn here in the recent rise of people who refuse to vaccinate their children, similar to how this community blindly trusts in the will of God. But there isn’t much more here than that blanket statement: to trust in God, or much more than the use of serpents to show this.

What’s really missing is the nuances that come together to instill a sense of purpose in people whose lives were before meaningless. We hear a lot about how important this community is to the people who live within it, but see few examples of this throughout the film, leaving it feeling underdeveloped.

An isolated community like this is also not anything new, yet it’s been done in a much more visceral manner before. Just think of The Witch, for example, a film that similarly touches on the potential harm that extreme religion can cause. The major difference between the two, though, is the approaches that they take.

Whereas The Witch is a haunting, atmospherically driven film, instead Them That Follow is closer to conventional. There are some successful elements, to be sure, such as the use of low humming ambient sounds to build tension, and the overall darkly-lit scenes of the landscape surrounding the town, which creates a sense of isolation.

In addition, the film is very much a slow-burner, building to its eventual booming climax. Even here, though, where the film is edited to show two extreme moments happening to different characters, the tension is short-lived, and we’re left similarly unmoved as before. A movie like this, where the very basis of the religion seen here is to handle venomous snakes, needed far more to truly strike an impact.

Conclusion: Them That Follow

It’s hard to be too critical to Them That Follow. After all, it is a directorial debut for Poulton and Savage, and most of us could only hope to make a first movie nearly as well-executed as this. When it comes down to it, though, the film needed a bit more oomph to truly stand out, especially with a cast as talented as the one gathered for this and with a subject as ripe with potential. Either way, Poulton and Savage are still two hopeful filmmakers to look out for in the future.

What are your thoughts on Them That Follow? What’s your favorite recent directorial debut?

Them That Follow is now released in the U.S. and Canada. For all international release dates, click here.