# Them That Follow

Them That Follow is a 2019 American mystery horror drama film written and directed by Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage in their feature directorial debuts. The film stars Olivia Colman, Kaitlyn Dever, Alice Englert, Jim Gaffigan, Walton Goggins, Thomas Mann, and Lewis Pullman. Set in a remote Pentecostal community in Appalachia, it follows Mara Childs (Englert), a woman who, while being courted for marriage by parishioner Garret (Pullman), discovers she is pregnant with the child of her former lover Augie Slaughter (Mann), forcing her to keep both the affair and her pregnancy a secret from her pastor father Lemuel (Goggins), her friend Dilly Picket (Dever), and Augie's parents Hope (Colman) and Zeke (Gaffigan).
Them That Follow premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. The film was theatrically released in the United States on August 2, 2019, to mixed reviews from critics.

## Plot

Mara Childs is a Pentecostal pastor's daughter raised in a remote community in Appalachia. To her father's pleasure, she is being seriously courted by one of his parishioners, Garret. However, unknown to everyone, Mara is pregnant by Augie, who has abandoned the church.
Under pressure from her community and her father, Mara decides to accept Garret's proposal.
Mara's father Lemuel runs a sect that incorporates snake handling into his preaching. After a minor dies while handling snakes, Lemuel is warned that the police are investigating him. He allows Garret to claim the snakes are his and lose his job to protect his congregation.
Before marriage, Mara's virginity is checked by Hope Slaughter, Augie's mother. Hope realizes that not only is Mara not a virgin, she is pregnant, as well. Hope decides to keep Mara's pregnancy a secret from Lemuel and Garret, but informs Augie and urges him to repent.
In an attempt to reunite with Mara, Augie attends church and pretends to have a spiritual awakening. Lemuel then urges him to handle a snake which proceeds to bite him. Augie begs to be allowed to go to a hospital but is denied by Lemuel and his own family. After he attempts to save himself by cutting the poison out of his arm, he and Mara have a moment together. They are found lying together by Garret who warns Mara to never see Augie again.
The following day Augie's condition has worsened. After hearing the news, Mara informs her friend, Dilly, that she is pregnant with Augie's child. Dilly then informs Garret who attempts to rape Mara. He is stopped by Lemuel, but before Lemuel throws him out Garret informs Lemuel of Mara's pregnancy.
To cleanse Mara, Lemuel takes Mara to church and has her handle a snake. At the same time, Augie's parents, aware that he is close to death, decide to perform an amputation at home. Mara survives her encounter with the snake, but despite earning her father's approval she decides to leave him to help Augie who is still sick after the amputation. With his parents’ permission, Mara leaves with Augie to take him to a doctor, promising them that she will always be there for him.

## Cast

* Olivia Colman as Hope Slaughter
* Kaitlyn Dever as Dilly Picket
* Alice Englert as Mara Childs
* Jim Gaffigan as Zeke Slaughter
* Walton Goggins as Lemuel Childs
* Thomas Mann as August "Augie" Slaughter
* Lewis Pullman as Garret
* Annie Tedesco as Connie Ray
* Erik Andrews as Harold
* Katherine DeBoer as Bridgette
* Brooks Roseberry as Jed
* Connor Daniel Lysholm as Jace

## Production

In August 2017, it was announced Olivia Colman, Alice Englert, and Thomas Mann had joined the cast of the film, with Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage directing from a screenplay they wrote. Gerard Butler, Bradley Gallo and Michael Helfant, Danielle Robinson, served as producers on the film, under their Amasia Entertainment and G-Base banners, respectively. In September 2017, Walton Goggins had also been cast, while Kaitlyn Dever and Jim Gaffigan joined in October that same year.

### Filming

Principal photography began in Youngstown, Ohio, on October 24, 2017, and concluded on November 20.

## Release

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019. Shortly after, 1091 Media and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired U.S. and international distribution rights to the film, respectively. It was released August 2, 2019.

## Critical reception

Them That Follow holds 59% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 93 reviews, with an average of 6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Them That Follow never quite captures the spiritual fervor of its setting, but the cast's committed performances make for an intermittently satisfying character study." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 57 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".