Los Angeles Times - 02.08.2019

L ATIMES.COM/CALENDAR FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019E7

Holy serpents, so many secrets

this year as England’s Queen

Anne in “The Favourite”),

Alice Englert (of the won-

derful “Ginger and Rosa”)

and a dramatic role for co-

median Jim Gaffigan.

All this work is necessary

because “Them That Fol-

low” attempts to do a lot. It

deals with questions of faith

and the consequences of

belief (or lack of it) as well as

taking on a story of young

love and considering what

happens when that belief

and love collide.

Beautifully shot (in rural

Ohio) by cinematographer

Brett Jutkiewicz, the film

pulls you into a self-con-

tained, almost besieged

world. Danger feels bred in

the bone and people keep to

themselves, worshiping be-

hind closed doors because

outsiders don’t understand.

Setting this tone flaw-

lessly is protagonist Mara

A film as atmospheric as
its title, “Them That Follow”
is an ambitious and impres-
sive independent produc-
tion, where the creation
of mood and place is so
convincing it enables us to
buy into a richly melodra-
matic plot about a taboo ro-
mance.
A first feature by the writ-
ing and directing team of
Britt Poulton and Dan Madi-
son Savage, “Follow” (which
debuted in competition at
this year’s Sundance film
festival) is set in a Pen-
tecostal community similar
to the one depicted in the
classic 1967 documentary
“Holy Ghost People.”
This is an insular Ap-
palachian world where be-
lievers speak in tongues and

handle venomous snakes,

often rattlers, treating liter-

ally a passage in the gospel of

Mark that says, “They shall

take up serpents.”

Though groups like this

continue to exist despite be-

ing shunned and their prac-

tice declared illegal, the in-

tensity and specificity of

their worship make it a chal-

lenge to bring to life.

Despite this, the film-

makers, who consulted with

a real snake-handling

church and used both rattle-

snakes and non-venomous

snakes for different parts of

the shoot, are able to take us

as far into this world — the

groups themselves are

deeply situated in the rural

woods.

They are aided by the ex-

cellent acting of an impec-

cable cast, which includes an

unerringly convincing Olivia

Colman (who won an Oscar

(feelingly played by

Englert), a young woman

with an intelligent, question-

ing look about her. If Mara

invariably seems worried,

that’s because she has a lot

to deal with.

For one thing, her father,

Lemuel (a mesmerizing Wal-

ton Goggins), is the sect’s

fiery preacher, a darkly un-

compromising presence al-

ways on the lookout for the

devil’s handiwork.

Lemuel has, in effect,

stage-managed his daugh-

ter’s betrothal to Garret

(Lewis Pullman, to be in

“Top Gun: Maverick”), one

of his acolytes albeit one who

is not crazy about snakes.

“We respect the serpent,”

Garret is sternly reminded.

“We do not cower to it.”

Making things more

complicated is that Mara

has gotten herself involved

with another young man,

Augie (Thomas Mann).

Augie’s mother, Hope

(Colman), married to Zeke

(Gaffigan), is a devout be-

liever who movingly remem-

bers her pre-faith days, say-

ing simply “for years, I was

lost, wasn’t anybody looking

for me.”

Augie himself, however,

no longer believes, and that

makes any kind of relation-

ship with the preacher’s

daughter all but impossible

in this close-knit world.

As for Mara, she is torn,

still believing more than

Augie but worrying about

the fissures she feels in her

certitude.

“Take away the awful

stain of my transgressions,”

she pleads with the deity in a

wrenching moment. “Don’t

take your holy spirit from

me.”

All this is simply the set-

up to a plot that gets increas-

ingly melodramatic, threat-

ening at times to overwhelm

everything in its path.

It’s a tribute to how con-

vincingly “Them That Fol-

low” is put together, howev-

er, that we go with that plot

to the end, twists and all.

“Why don’t you shoot

where you’re aiming,” one

character says to another,

and that is advice this

straight-shooting film takes

to heart.

109 1 Media

HOPE(Olivia Colman), left, with Dilly (Kaitlyn Dever), says before she became a devout follower of the Pentecostal faith, “I was lost, wasn’t anybody looking for me.”

‘THEM THAT FOLLOW’

AT THE MOVIES: REVIEWS

A remarkable truthful-
ness shepherds Benjamin
Gilmour’s tightly written
and conscientiously pro-
duced drama “Jirga” as it
renders an image of Af-
ghanistan not as a ravaged
battleground but as an ar-
restingly rich land.
Hand-held shooting pro-
vides a gritty immediacy to
the quest for atonement
that Aussie war veteran
Mike (Sam Smith) has em-
barked on, from the lively
streets of Kabul to arid land-
scapes around Kandahar. A
true Westerner, the remorse-
ful ex-soldier assumes cash
can indemnify the victims of
a prior deathly fault.
Limiting its use of subti-
tles proves to be a brave
choice that emphasizes non-
verbal communication. The
film, which takes its name
from a Pashto word referring
to a tribal council, begins as
a road movie. Mike fraterniz-
es with a taxi driver (a radi-
ant Sher Alam Miskeen Us-

tad) over sweeping vistas

and music-making until the

Taliban enters to, under-

standably, probe the for-

eigner’s intentions.

Like his fictional lead,

Gilmour understands this

should exist as the opposite

of a white savior narrative.

An ode and a cinematic

apology to a country peren-

nially tarnished by outsiders

undeserving of its welcom-

ing culture, here its people

and geographical attributes

take top billing.

“Forgiveness is better

than revenge,” utters one of

the local leaders in the after-

math. Few platitudes are as

simultaneously obvious and

in constant need of reitera-

tion.

—Carlos Aguilar

“Jirga.”In Pashto and Eng-

lish with English subtitles.

Not rated. Running time: 1

hour, 18 minutes. Playing:

Laemmle Music Hall, Bever-

ly Hills.

Lightyear Entertainment

SHER Alam Miskeen Ustad as the taxi driver, left,
and actor Sam Smith as Mike Wheeler in “Jirga.”

‘JIRGA’

Bravely searching

for atonement

With its talented cast,

“Otherhood” leaves viewers

in the sensible shoes of a trio

of moms disappointed by

their children for not living

up to their potential. Disap-

pointment being an emotion

that is actually warranted

here.

Angela Bassett, Patricia

Arquette and Felicity

Huffmanplay the women

forgotten by their adult sons

(Sinqua Walls, Jake Hoff-

man and Jake Lacy) on

Mother’s Day, leading them

to drivefrom Poughkeepsie

down to New York City to get

their young men’s attention.

Off-screen mothers will

thank these characters for

making even the most med-

dling mom look like she has a

healthy set of boundaries in

comparison. Daughters and

sons should call home in

gratitude for the relative in-

significance of their own

parents’ sins. “Otherhood”

does have a few genuine and

genuinely funny moments —

thanks largely to its stars —

but they’re overshadowed

by the bad behavior of both

the mothers and their sons.

The script from Mark An-

drus and director Cindy

Chupackmakes it unclear

where our sympathies are

supposed to lie.

Each of the three leads

has at least an Oscar nomi-

nation to her name — and a

win in the case of Arquette.

But watching “Otherhood”

leaves audiences feeling

secondhand embarrass-

ment, not only for everyone’s

cringe-worthy behavior on

screen but also for these lau-

ded actresses who both

starred in and executive pro-

duced this subpar film.

—Kimber Myers

“Otherhood.”Rated: R, for

language, sexual references

and brief nudity. Running

time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle NoHo 7,

North Hollywood, and avail-

able on Netflix.

Linda KallerusNetflix

PATRICIA Arquette, from left, Felicity Huffman

and Angela Bassett play annoyed moms on a mission.

‘OTHERHOOD’

Moms’ road trip

goes off the rails

Adam Dick makes a solid

feature writing-directing de-

but with “Teacher,” a tense

and propulsive thriller with

several vital, provocatively

rendered thoughts on its

seething mind. This unset-

tling look at our culture of

cruelty, based on Dick’s 2017

short, forcefully posits that,

especially these days, the

meek shall inherit nothing —

unless they take some seri-

ous action.

David Dastmalchian

stars as James Lewis, a mild-

mannered, tightly wound

high school English teacher

who finds himself defending

two of his students — sensi-

tive photographer Preston

(Matthew Garry) and inse-

cure Daniela (Esme Perez)

—from the harmful bullying

tactics of popular classmate

Tim (Curtis Edward Jack-

son), a sociopathic rich kid.

But James, who’s going

through a tough divorce

(and has suppressed anger

and alcohol issues)is pow-

ered not only by a sense of

fairness but the eternal

memory of his own bullied

childhood. It may be many

years later, but he can still

right some wrongs.

How James gets there

proves gripping and harrow-

ingif at times a tad implausi-

ble. Dastmalchian, not un-

like Robert De Niro in “Taxi

Driver” (to which this film

owes a slight debt), capably

walks that fine line between

saintly and unhinged.

Kevin Pollakis frighten-

ingly good as Tim’s harshly

demanding, businessman

father whose money and

power cowers James’ bosses

and deceptively protects his

son.

“Teacher” expertly gets

under your skin — and stays

there.

—Gary Goldstein

“Teacher.”Not rated. Run-

ning time: 1 hour, 40 min-

utes. Playing: Laemmle

Glendale. On VOD Aug. 13

Cinedigm

KEVIN POLLAK,left, and David Dastmalchian in

writer-director Adam Dick’s intense “Teacher.”

‘TEACHER’

Gripping thriller

walks a fine line

‘Them That

Follow’

Rated:R, for some

disturbing violence

Running time:1 hour,

38 minutes

Playing: Landmark, West

Los Angeles.

Pentecostal faith, illicit romance are behind closed doors in this complex drama

KENNETH TURAN
FILM CRITIC