Them That Follow (2019)
Them That Follow stood out based on its cast alone, Olivia Colman and Kaitlyn Dever have both had an amazing year with The Favourite and Booksmart respectfully and of course to see how each actor would continue their careers after those highs intrigued me. Them That Follow shows a young woman named Mara Childs (Alice Englert) who is the daughter of the pastor in an extremely religious group who live in the rural mountains and prove their faiths by the handling of venomous snakes. She is about to be married to a respectable man named Garret (Lewis Pullman) but is in love with another man who has lost his faith named Augie (Thomas Mann). This becomes more complicated as she becomes pregnant with Augie's baby which not only tests her own personal faith but also creates a wall between her and her entire community. This is a plot that had room to be explored and to have interesting conversations started about it especially from this unique perspective, so many times when there is a conversation about religion it comes from the perspective of someone who has left religion and sees how toxic it is. Having our main character be a woman still holding onto her religion and even as her relationship with faith is strained it isn't something that she easily abandons or loses meaning for. On paper, this all comes together to what sounds like a really interesting and engaging watch which is one of the reasons I felt a bit disappointed by it, don't get me wrong it is far from being bad but seeing what it could of been makes the overall dullness I felt from this film stands out as a negative even more than it already would have.
Instead of really deep diving and exploring this woman and the people around her in interesting ways the conversation it ends up having minus a few moments of good depth is really nothing new. This doesn't explore religion in interesting ways or provide a lot for the audience to chew on. Plenty of this is because of how the film decides to focus on Mara's romantic relationships more as she tries to hide the truth from everyone and figure out how to approach this situation not allowing us to see the situation play out and have those other perspectives from the people around her. We are so withheld in Maras bubble as she closes herself off that we never get the needed character development needed for those side characters with the type of story they are telling. This relies on subtle moments and lines in dialogue rather than big emotional moments but for characters such as Hope (Olivia Colman) we never get to know them or their philosophies so it is impossible to read anything meaningful from their subtle moments that are supposed to be the depth and point of the film. In the end, it makes the film feel simpler than it tries to be.
Though as I mentioned this is not what I would consider a bad movie, and staying with those characters I will say where they don't translate the best emotionally they are really well acted. Where it was Olivia Colman and Kaitlyn Dever I was most interested in both end up taking the backseat to some really solid performances from people like Walton Goggins who transforms into the role of the preacher and gives a great layered performance that really turns into something special towards the end of the film. Alice Englert is also fantastic as out lead, she is an actor who hasn't been able to prove herself in a lot and with her lack of experience plus playing a character who is held back and more subtle with her emotions she easily could have got lost in the movie but is good enough to deliver in the lead role and give a standout performance of the entire movie. I also loved Thomas Mann, he comes off as so innocent and seeing him try to find a way to make his relationship with Mara work even trying to appeal to her religious beliefs despite not sharing them himself made him feel really likable and adds to a lot of the emotion that works in the film. The filmmaking itself is also one of the main highlights of the movie. It soaks up its nature-filled mountain environment which creates this wonderfully beautiful but unsettling atmosphere. The cinematography is great as it shows these locations and the score by Garth Stevenson is absolutely breathtaking. it is one of my favorite scores of the year so far and especially, in the beginning, dares to even almost overshadow some of the other aspects of the movie.
Overall like I said, Them That Follow is far from being a bad movie. It is really well made from a technical standpoint and has all the basic key elements. The acting is great and it has an engaging and interesting world that it inhabits, sadly though the plot just can't live up to those elements. It isn't bad but ends up feeling basic and dull overall. There isn't anything in this movie that is going to end up sticking with me especially considering we are on the verge of the awards season which will produce dozens of quality films in just a few short months. I can't say you need to go out of your way to see this film but if you already have seen everything else in theaters and want to go to the theater this isn't the worst thing in the world to go see when it comes out next month.
Overall like I said, Them That Follow is far from being a bad movie. It is really well made from a technical standpoint and has all the basic key elements. The acting is great and it has an engaging and interesting world that it inhabits, sadly though the plot just can't live up to those elements. It isn't bad but ends up feeling basic and dull overall. There isn't anything in this movie that is going to end up sticking with me especially considering we are on the verge of the awards season which will produce dozens of quality films in just a few short months. I can't say you need to go out of your way to see this film but if you already have seen everything else in theaters and want to go to the theater this isn't the worst thing in the world to go see when it comes out next month.