The Leader
“The Leader” tells the story of Heaven’s Gate, the UFO cult whose 39 members died in a mass suicide in 1997. This is the real cult, not Michael Cimino’s western “Heaven’s Gate.” Writer and director Michael Gallagher has a personal connection to it. He lived near the site as a child and spent years researching the story before putting it on screen.
On a personal note, as an ex-Mormon and an agnostic, I have been deeply intrigued by cults in my formative years, especially the pull their leaders have over people. I have spent countless hours reading articles and watching documentaries, including “Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults,” “Waco: American Apocalypse,” “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple,” “The Vow” about NXIVM, and, more recently, “Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult.” So this film was right in my wheelhouse.
In the 1970s, Marshall Herff Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Nettles told people they were extraterrestrial beings sent to guide humanity to the next level of existence. Dozens believed them, left their families, and waited to be taken off the planet. Tim Blake Nelson plays Applewhite and Vera Farmiga plays Nettles, or “Bo” and “Peep”, and the film is smartest when it treats their relationship as the engine of the whole thing. Two lost people feeding each other’s delusions is a more unsettling idea than a single mastermind
The film is shot and scored like a horror movie, with composer Joseph Bishara (“The Conjuring,” “Insidious”) setting a tone of dread early. It is not an easy sit, but it holds you. The runtime is just right at 104 minutes, long enough to build the community and short enough that it never drags. In both the first and the third act, Gallagher switches to a boxy, constricting frame for the group’s introduction and final days, and it works.
There were moments of quiet comedy throughout, and the cast of Tim Blake Nelson, Vera Farmiga were brilliant choices in casting. Gallagher said in his post film interview that Farmiga had seen the documentary prior to her casting, and unbeknownst to him, had told her husband that she needed to play Bonnie Lu Nettles when the movie came out. Talk about manifestation.
The supporting cast is just as strong. Simon Rex plays the amiable cult member, the friendly face who makes joining feel easy. Grace Caroline Currey is excellent as the magnetic member, someone you can see pulling others in on her own. Jim Parsons is brilliant as Warren, a recovering alcoholic who becomes the most senior follower and effectively Applewhite’s right hand. His devotion is what makes the group feel real, and it is one of the most frightening things in the film.
What impressed me most is the restraint. The story is widely known, and the physical evidence from the event is extensive, so I asked Gallagher after the screening how tempting it was to use poetic license. He told me that “as a film maker, it’s (his) responsibility to stay loyal to the truth of the story, but the desire to make films more ‘cinematic’ or audience friendly always creeps in.” It was clear, as we continued our discussion, that the importance of staying true to this already cinematic story, was of the utmost importance.
The film has had a strong festival run. It had its world premiere in the Spotlight Narrative section at Tribeca, played the Horizons section at Fantasia in Montreal, and will screen at Film Fest Knox in November, alongside the presentation of the James Agee Prize to Nelson. Across the gamut, critics are not unanimous, and a few found it more stylish than insightful, but the performances draw praise almost everywhere.
No release date has been announced yet, so for now festivals are the only way to see it. When it does arrive, expect an R rating for disturbing content including suicide, sexual content, drug use and brief graphic nudity.
4.5 out of 5 stars
