Mara Childs (Alice Englert) and Dilly (Kaitlyn Dever) are friends in rural Appalachia. Mara's father Pastor Lemuel Childs (Walton Goggins) leads a Pentecostal church which worships with venomous snakes. She is pressed into marrying Garret (Lewis Pullman) but she is hiding a secret with Augie (Thomas Mann). Parishioners, Zeke (Jim Gaffigan) and Hope Slaughter (Olivia Colman), are Augie's parents.
This movie sets up a place. It has great actors. They are doing some good work but the story is too precious with the central secret. It also needs to amp up the intensity with an earlier snake bite. Maybe Lemuel could be bitten right off the bat. This church should be a more intense affair. The story feels under-cooked. If only the secret is revealed much earlier. It also needs Augie's voice during the climax. Jim Gaffigan takes the premise to a silly place which left me shaking my head. It feels like they are making fun of these characters. I do like the potential of this world and these actors. The story does need some reworking.
This movie sets up a place. It has great actors. They are doing some good work but the story is too precious with the central secret. It also needs to amp up the intensity with an earlier snake bite. Maybe Lemuel could be bitten right off the bat. This church should be a more intense affair. The story feels under-cooked. If only the secret is revealed much earlier. It also needs Augie's voice during the climax. Jim Gaffigan takes the premise to a silly place which left me shaking my head. It feels like they are making fun of these characters. I do like the potential of this world and these actors. The story does need some reworking.