A busy SXSW for Kaitlyn Dever, here she returns in a more low-key role after another star-making turn in festival headliner, Booksmart.
Them That Follow is set deep in the wilds of Appalachia, within a community of Pentecostal Christians. Proving themselves before God by handling deadly snakes, the film tells the story of the pastor’s daughter who holds a secret that would tear the community apart. When a non-believer is bitten and his family refuse medical aid – believing prayer will fight off the poison, not medicine – the film challenges its subjects, and audience, to pit what you believe against what you might be seeing before you.
Giving a striking window into a world great stretches of the audience will know so very little about, Them That Follow pitches a classic filmic story of forbidden love in a new setting. Gradually layering different elements of the story until the whole picture starts to come together, this is a dark, brooding and hugely confident film that knows its own pace and won’t budge in how it tells it tale, much like its protagonists.
With co-directors/co-writers Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage growing up in similar Christian communities, the window into another world that Them That Follow creates isn’t judgmental but instead invites the audience to interpret the actions on-screen, pitting them against your own religious or spiritual beliefs.
It was a very fine balance, but the film does so well in presenting the characters’ internal struggles when it’s clear their faith could be getting in the way, even harming those they love. Alongside the filmmakers, the cast also deserve great credit too.
In the lead role, Kaitlyn Dever as Dilly gives a naunced performance that sways between power and vulnerability. Opposite her, Lewis Pullman (cast just one day before principal photography began) and Thomas Mann fulfil much more than simple a love triangle, and Walton Goggins gives a masterclass in authority as pastor Lemuel. The ever-brilliant Olivia Colman and Jim Gaffigan in a more serious turn round off a truly superb cast.
All in all this is a thoughtful, and though-provoking film about religion, for all its rights and wrongs . Rich in tone with an amazing soundtrack, Them That Follow is a remarkable feature debut from its co-filmmakers, who show real poise far beyond their relative inexperience.