The Revival

This movie was well done however I was hoping that the main protagonist was going to rise above the hatred he was feeling towards his own truth let alone the small minded townspeople ...but alas that was not what happened instead something horrifying.

Not being a fan of gratuitous violence I avoided this film because of something I read about it. But the subject matter, or what I thought the subject matter to be, had me curious. So I spent a whopping $4.99 at iTunes and rented it, ready to pull the plug at any moment if necessary. It wasn't at all what I've heard described here or elsewhere. And if it were I would be writing a very different one star review.

To begin with, the writing is excellent. This film delivers an authentic, and uncomfortable, small town "church voice" through the characters and their interactions with one another. The pastor, Eli (played by David Rysdahl) has inherited a small church from his deceased father. He hears his father's sermons through cassette tapes he plays in his car while driving around; and in his head, perpetually, everywhere he goes. We hear them in voice-over as a viewer. They're hateful, cruel, and for him, inescapable. At a potluck lunch after service one Sunday, a homeless man, Daniel (Zachary Booth), shows up for the free food. Eli, desperate for any new attendees to his failing church, tries to welcome him but Daniel never looks up from his food. Not even when he tells the preacher that he has "pretty hands". Let the creepiness, and it's unexpected origins, begin.

Like any stray, if you feed them they'll come back. And Daniel does. This time Eli gives him the brown bag lunch his wife made for him; and a place to stay. It's a small cabin in an isolated area that was used previously to hide Eli's mother from the public when her drinking became an embarrassment to his father. Apparently his mother is also deceased so there's room now to hide someone else because what Eli subconsciously has in mind needs to be hidden from everyone he knows. Especially his wife and congregation.

Daniel has a slightly predatory air about him. By contrast the waifish, terminally unsure of himself man of God, Eli, comes off as the weak, and easily overpowered, one in the heard. It soon becomes clear that he may not be as devoted to his church wife as he should be and that he is getting in way over his head. His interest in Daniel is carnal; not "Christian"; even as his father's angry words blast through his mind on a continuous loop.

This is a small budget film but this is not small budget acting, directing, cinematography, or writing. The leads, Zachary Booth, David Rysdahl, Lucy Faust, and Raymond McAnally, give impressive performances that will leave an impression on you. These are the church people with their church faces and their real faces. And those two faces are at odds with one another. Without getting too specific I'll just say that the Snow Owl story, as told by one fo these characters, is chilling.

The crux of this story is that of a an inexperienced preacher trying to hang on to what's left of his father's congregation even as his personal life is unravelled by a homeless stranger, a pregnant wife, and the emergence of feelings he's kept buried his entire life. Despite all of this, his desire to lead people in a new and better way is genuine. In a moment of frustration he rails at one of his flock saying, "People have personalized their God to the point of becoming their own God". No truer, or more cautionary, words were ever spoken. But he doesn't even realize how cautionary his own words are.

The conclusion of this story advances incrementally in a way that I did not see coming. By the last frame I was a little bit in disbelief of what I had just seen. It's not a film I would watch numerous times but it is a film I would recommend that everyone watch at least once. And I will say that, on this subject (see for yourself what "this" is), it may be the best made film, and most powerful in terms of message, I've ever seen. Which is even more amazing given the small size of the production. I am gay and I understand the revulsion some may have towards this story. To that I would say, you're not picking up what they're putting down. And what they're "putting down" is a powerful message. And an indictment of homophobic religiosity.

In this film, the ending was created first and then the writer worked backwards towards an unnatural, unbelievable beginning. What we end up with is actually two separate movies. The first half is a romance drama and the second half is a horror movie. And at no point did the two separate halves connect in a believable way. Preacher Eli, a mix of Mr. Rogers and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, develops an unexpected romantic/sexual relationship with a rough looking, cigarette smoking, meth using drifter. As any good preacher would do, he takes pity on the guy and gives him food and shelter. Of course, the preacher has a wife and she's no so gay friendly. A few late night outs and she's begins to get suspicious of Eli. At some point, (not shown) she follows him and snaps a picture of him embracing his drifter boyfriend. She shows the photo to Eli, who seems quietly shocked and upset since his big secret is now known. Up to that point, he seemed very willing to take risks with his boyfriend, by spending nights in bed with him, for example. But then there was a sudden, inexplicable break in his character. There were no NEW and clear external forces that caused this break. His character just turned on a dime. He, his wife and their Baptist congregation conspired to become Satan incarnate. Enter Mr. Hyde and his witchful wife.

This movie focuses upon people who abandon their humanity for the sake of their religion, and how hurtful and cruel they can become under the influence of their religious beliefs. As another reviewer mentioned, it's an indictment against religion, not against homosexuality. The most moral person in the movie is the homeless, homosexual drifter.

The film seeks to dive-in to the "real" reasons many small-town Americans go to church; obligation, social outlet, insecurities, and even a sense of "keeping up with the Jones'". Through the main character, a Pastor, we see his condemnation of all these superficial reasons (as opposed to "understanding God"), then learn HIS reason for being a pastor is just as shallow as the other reasons he loathes among his congregation (which he clearly detests just below the surface). Yet it is out of this same perceived obligation to these people that he has to mask his true nature, which comes flooding out when he meets a drifter. Through his interactions with this drifter, we see the choices the Pastor is forced to make, as well as the real nature of his congregation...which has always been there just below the surface. Great acting, excellent script (truly believable on both parts) and well edited. There were a couple of parts which were very predictable (almost to cliche') and although the cinematography was very professional, it could have been a bit more creative given the subject-matter. All in all, very well done and worth watching.