Genre: Drama
Director: Todd Haynes
Writer: James Morgan
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Anthony Hopkins, Susan Sarandon, David Strathairn, Scoot McNairy, Sally Hawkins, Peter Dinklage, Claire Danes, Amanda Plummer
Plot: The film starts in the middle of a religious celebration, held by Thomas Morris (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife Geraldine (Susan Sarandon). Up on the stage is their son, Tom (Joaquin Phoenix) and their right arm, Moses Mahoney (David Strathairn). They are all part of the Church of the Second Revelation, a recluse community qualified by a sect by the rest of the world, where Thomas holds a certain control over the lives of his followers. Today, he preaches about the moment when it all started. He had a vision, one that would change his life and it inspired him. The man in his vision said that something terrible will happen, even worse than the Apocalypse and people needed to change and to follow some simple rules in order to prevent it, and today, he is here to remind his followers of those rules. Technology is bad and will lead to the demise of society, which is why it is banned from their small village. People need to be cured. They achieve this by eating what their ancestors ate, no transformed food. This will cure them from the toxins and bad things people eat in the world. People also need to go in sweat rooms to cleanse themselves two times a week. Biodiversity is also viewed in a negative light, which is why you can only breed from within the community. It wasn’t a rule stated by the Prophet, but Thomas also prohibits contact with the outside world, they need to live as far away from the people he calls animals as possible. He ends his speech by claiming that when humanity will be wiped off the map by technology gone wild, they will be the one to build it back up, which makes the crowd erupt in support of their leader.
When they are off the stage, Thomas beings to cough, as he’s been restraining himself from doing so on the stage. It is so bad that he starts to cough blood. Tom asks his father if he’ll be alright and he says no. Geraldine is quick to come in and dismiss it, saying it’s just a bad cough, nothing really bad. Someone tries to enter the room, but Moses prevents them from seeing their leader in a state of weakness. These people actually believe that Thomas is immortal. Thomas is still coughing and it is so bad that he faints. Moses and Tom freak out, but Geraldine keeps her cool. They will carry him through the secret hallways and they will lie him down in his bed and this is what they do. Moses leaves them alone for a while, he will go get something that will make Thomas feel better. Tom tries to resonate his mother that Thomas really is ill and she finally admits it. She says she keeps following the narrative because Moses still believes it and Tom is now intelligent enough to know that Thomas isn’t immortal. Tom asks if there’s anything else that’s not true and Geraldine stumbles on her words, until Moses comes back with essential oils. They rub Thomas’ body with it and leave him alone, as Moses believe the oils will rejuvenate him.
Tom goes back in his little home, where his significant other is cooking dinner. Penelope (Sally Hawkins) is pregnant with their first child. In the outside world, she would be considered too old to carry a child, but Thomas and Moses, the community’s primary healer, said it will be alright. She’s so big she’s about to pop. Tom kisses her on the belly and he tells her about what happened with his father, even if he really shouldn’t talk about it, Penelope isn’t part of the elite and Tom reminds her of that. It starts an argument for the couple, as Penelope always wanted to be a member of the closed group, composed of Tom, Thomas, Geraldine, Moses and Verne (Peter Dinklage), the high priest of the sect and Tom’s brother. He says he’s trying really hard to get her into that group, but as long as Thomas and Geraldine are alive, there’s no chance she gets in, Geraldine wants to be the only female member to be a part of it. When they sit down to eat, sect member Karen (Amanda Plummer) knocks on their door and urges Tom to come with him, Verne wants to see him.
Verne is kneeling in front of a sort of statue made of clay, praying the high prophet and to thank him for his guidance. Verne wants to know how Thomas is doing after what happened earlier and Tom asks him first how he knew, as he wasn’t there and word hasn’t got out, at least yet. Verne says it’s not true, Penelope knows and Tom says of course she knows, but it angers Verne, reminding him that she shouldn’t, because she isn’t a member of the elite. They discuss what they will do about their father’s worsening condition. Both of them don’t know the other doesn’t really believe in the immortality crap so they run along with it. Their conversation ends with Verne saying he will pray all day and all night if necessary to save their dear father. When Tom leaves Verne’s sanctuary, he goes to see his father and mother.
Geraldine is still by Thomas’ side and she’s now crying. He hasn’t wake and it’s longer than usual. Moses says everything will be alright and he keeps rubbing him with all sorts of oils. She orders him to leave to speak to her son privately. She says that if Thomas was to die, one way or the other, Tom would be the one in charge of the group. He’s their only true heir, as Verne, albeit older, was adopted from an early age. She says there are things he might not like about the group that he will find out, things only known to Geraldine and Thomas and it may shock Tom and she understands it. She opens a drawer and gives a handful of bills to her son. He never saw what it is, so she explains to him that it allows people to buy things in the outside world. She also gives him a map, to follow closely, just like when he was a kid and him and Verne were looking for treasures hidden in the community. It details, step by step, everything he has to do in order to go buy his father’s cough medicine in a drug store. He says he isn’t sure if he’ll be able to do it, but he will try. Geraldine says she would do it, but Moses will find it weird that she leaves now, as she usually get it when he’s not so ill. She kisses him on the cheek and wishes him luck. He got out of the community once, as a child and he was traumatized by it, convinced by his father that people were mad. When he’s walking in the woods alone, now that he thinks about it, the story about the demise of the civilization his father keeps telling still hasn’t happened. He will take this opportunity to observe these crazy people running head first into the wall that will wipe them off the face of the Earth, everyone but the members of the Church of the Second Revelation, of course.
Tom emerges from the woods and he’s now walking on a dirt road. His direction say that he must walk until he sees a wood panel with a daisy drawn on it. He walks and he walks and he walks, but he never sees the panel with the daisy. He sits on the ground, trying to think about what to do, when a man arrives on the road, on a tractor, although Tom doesn’t know what a tractor is, so he starts to run away. The man still catches him and asks him where he’s going. He says he had to walk until he saw the panel with the daisy. Everyone in town knows that this panel was put there by the Church of the Second Revelation, so the man deducts that he’s from the Church and it’s not that hard, with his outdated and simplistic clothing. He asks him where he wants to go and Tom says to something called a drug store. He hops on the tractor and the man will get him there.
Back in the community, Moses is eating with Verne who stopped praying for a while. They talk about their life in the community and what’s going on in it. Moses mentions Penelope is about to have her baby. He requested the help of Karen and to help him deliver the baby and Verne notes that it’s a good choice, she’ll know what she’s doing, she’s the one who delivered the most babies in the entire community. On her end, Penelope is eating with her sister Julie (Claire Danes), since Tom has just vanished. Julie inquires about the community and if Penelope has any gossip worth telling about the Morris family. Penelope says she shouldn’t be saying it and hopes Julie can keep this to her, but Tom is really sick and he passed out earlier today. Julie is in shock, as she was sure Tom was immortal, as she learned all her life that he was, but she swears on the high prophet that she won’t tell anybody. Penelope doesn’t feel so well and all of a sudden, she notices that her water broke. Julie runs all across the community to go find Moses. He tells Verne to pray for everything to go well. As Moses runs to Penelope, Julie gets Karen and they are all ready to go to welcome the first representant of the third generation of Morris in this world.
The man in the tractor drops Thomas in front of the drug store and Thomas enters. He’s being looked at and he knows it. He quickly does a full circle, telling people to stop looking at him, as they are all sinners and he warns them they will all cause their demise. He stops in front of the newspaper stand, where he reads the cover of the front page A Day with the Church of the Second Revelation, penned by Julie Walters. He glances at the picture, it’s him, his father and his mother, while they are speaking to their followers. He quickly dismisses it and he goes to order his father’s medicine. While he’s waiting, he keeps thinking about it, he knows a Julie Walters, but can’t quite picture a face with the name. As he’s waiting, someone is shot in the street and it frightens Tom, but he’s like hypnotized by the whole situation, he looks at the paramedics, the police, just like a scientist would at the animals he’s studying. He sees the technology that he always thought was bad and he’s impressed by it. Even if the man bled a lot, he survived, at least Tom thinks he survived. The last time he saw that much blood, it was Moses’ brother who cut himself chopping some wood. Moses, their best healer, assisted him, but he was not able to save his own brother.
Thomas Morris is walking in the desert and he sits down, drenched in sweat, tired, hungry and first and foremost thirsty. He looks at the sky for an answer to his prayer, but can’t find anything except the bright blue to covers the sky. He looks in front of him and he sees something, an oasis perhaps, with someone waving back at him. He looks behind him and he sees some unhuman shapes trying to grab him. He gets up and starts running in direction of the man who’s waving at him. As he gets closer and closer, he recognizes his prophet, but when he’s within arms reach, he wakes up, Geraldine by his side. He starts to cough again, but this time he’s able to stop. Geraldine is so happy that he woke up that they share a passionate kiss. In Tom’s house, however, things aren’t going as smoothly. Penelope is screaming at the top of her lungs as they tell her to keep pushing and pushing. There’s blood and water everywhere. Moses claims to see the baby’s head, she just has to keep pushing.
At the drug store, Tom’s order is finally ready and the cashier gives him a weird look when he takes out his pile of cash to pay. As he gets out, he stops in the middle of the sidewalk, just starring at people on their cellphones, the cars and everything, and he’s partly amazed and terrified by it. He’s interrupted by a man, who says his name is Balthazar Windsor (Scoot McNairy) and he wants to join the Church of the Second Revelation. Tom tells him to go away, but he keeps following him and he’s able to recite all the rules and the psalms they all know by heart. He’s begging him on his knees now and Tom says he can come back with him, but his father will have to decide whether they want him aboard or not. Balthazar is kissing Tom’s feet despite them being covered in dirt and they follow the instructions to go back to the community.
Geraldine and Thomas are talking about will happen when they will die. Geraldine says she wants to be buried somewhere where everyone can come and visit her and people can remember her. Thomas says he’ll probably be gone soon, so he might as well plan what will happen with the sect. As expected, Tom will takeover as the leader and Geraldine will explain it to him. In case she leaves this world before him, he has a document ready, hidden somewhere, that will be given to Tom. Geraldine urges them to talk about something less grim after these difficult times and they both agree. At this moment, Julie knocks at their door, something is wrong with Penelope. They both go there, Thomas limping badly, gripping on Geraldine not to fall, and find Penelope alive, bathing in her own fluid, and they ask what’s wrong. She doesn’t really answer, but wonders what took them so long. Verne also comes and they all find out from Moses and Karen that the baby didn’t survive, he was stillborn. Shocked, Geraldine and Thomas leave the house with a crowd of curious gathered around the house. They ask if everything’s alright and Thomas says the baby didn’t survive. He says it may be a sign from the Prophet and asks his son ask for answers in his prayers. He officially declares that the community is in mourning, a ceremony will be held tomorrow, everyone must be there.
When Tom arrives with Balthazar, he notices the gathering in front his home and he runs over there to see what’s happening and that’s where he learned of the tragic news. He throws a tantrum, begging people to let them alone in this time, but Penelope reminds him that the sense of community was one of the basic rules of the Church, but Tom doesn’t care, he wants them gone. Everyone disperses and Balthazar remains alone. He looks around him, but it doesn’t seem like he will be meeting Thomas Morris anytime soon. As he looks to his right, he notices something and he heads over there. He enters Julie’s home and she makes sure that no one saw him and closes the door.
Tom is hugging Penelope. They barely had the time to clean up the mess and Penelope is no feeling so well either. She tells him what happened and she asks him where he was during that time. He stumbles on his words a bit, but he lets the cat out the bag and reveals that he went to the outside world to buy prescription medicine to his father. She is quite shocked by this news, but doesn’t really have the moral and the energy to really do anything about it. During this time, Julie and Balthazar talk about what he saw in town and how people are reacting positively to Julie’s article. Julie entered the Church a couple of months ago, claiming she wanted to be closer to her sister, but she was more interested in publishing an article, telling the story of the cult who took away her sister from her. She also tells him what happened and how nobody’s going to be home tomorrow due to the ceremony to honor the dead child. She also mentions that she listened to a conversation between Thomas and Geraldine in which they discuss what will happen when they will die and she feels it might come sooner than expected. As Penelope and Tom are crying, Moses knocks on their door and says Thomas and Geraldine want to see them in the chapel, Tom forgets his father emphysema medicine.
They all gather in the chapel and Thomas has to sit down when he sees them enter, claiming he wants to rest ahead of the ceremony tomorrow, but he doesn’t really feel well, sweating and he has a really short breath, trying to contain his cough. Geraldine wanted them to know that she understand what they’re feeling and the ceremony tomorrow will honor their child and it will forever live in their hearts and in the community’s memory. Moses is currently pampering the dead fetus to make it look presentable tomorrow and Thomas is able to say that he will explain why the baby died tomorrow. He had a vision with the prophet and he knows the reason why it died, it’s a sign. He gets all tied up in his words and he struggles to breath. They make sure he’s alright, but they take the decision to leave, they had enough and will know more tomorrow.
Julie and Balthazar talk about what they learned this week, as they plan to write a new article, since the last one garnered national attention. He says that he saw Tom buying medicine in town, when the followers are forbidden to leave the group and even more to take prescription drugs. She says she asked her sister where they got all the money to build this and she says that everyone who pledges their life to the Church must give it all of its belongings. She did it too, but it was a fake amount, given to her by the media company employing her so she could get a scoop, and let’s say things are working pretty well at the moment. She says it’s dangerous for him to be out there, everybody knows everybody around here. She was able to sneak out to talk to him before and write her articles, but with him being in the community, it poses a great threat to their little operation.
The next day, everyone gathered in the chapel for a ceremony. Moses presents the dead fœtus to the crowd, as people cry. It’s particularly hard for Penelope, who is up on the stage and Tom is consoling her. He tells his wife that he’s starting to doubt the whole thing, if they really were the chosen one by this prophet to be the starters of the new humanity when the current one ends. With this today, he has enough of the bullshit. People are awaiting Thomas’ arrival now, but he’s nowhere to be found and so is Geraldine. Verne tries to appease the crowd, saying Thomas is inquiring the prophet as to why this poor child died. Tom sees his father coming, holding on to his wife, but as soon as people can see him, he starts to walk on his own, but you know he has a hard time. He smiles and acts like nothing is happening. Tom tells his wife he’s wondering how long can Thomas keep this facade before it breaks down. Thomas says that the death of the child was a sign. Even if the best healer in the world (Moses) and the best childbirth aid they have (Karen) were there, it just died. Even if Verne prayed all day, everyday to the prophet, it didn’t change anything. He says that it’s a sign things are about to change. The civilization beyond their walls are about to collapse and the prophet told him if would be the sign he would give, but he didn’t tell anyone, because he didn’t want to frighten them. People are comprehensive and they nod in acceptance, but not Tom. He gets up and confronts Verne about his supposed praying. Why was he not able to tell it was about to happen. He tries to answer but he’s left speechless by the aggressiveness of his brother. He turns his attention to Moses and asks him if he ever was trained to be a “healer” like the people in the outside world. He then tells the story of what he saw to the crowd, shocked at the revelation. His father tries to interfere, but he starts to cough violently again. When asked why he knows that, he says that he went outside to buy medicine for his father, who, guess what, isn’t immortal. He also asks him why the prophet would claim his own grandson, instead of other babies born recently, pointing at every small child in the audience. Thomas tries to argue, but he’s unable. Geraldine has had enough and ends the ceremony, and, with the help of Moses, escorts Thomas out of the stage and they take the secret passages back to their quarters. By that point, Thomas passed out again. She puts Verne in charge of finding Tom, she wants to talk to him, now.
While everyone was at the ceremony, Balthazar seized the opportunity to explore Thomas and Geraldine’s quarters. He wasn’t able to find anything conclusive, but just when he was about to give up, he notices a rather large drawer, partly hidden. He opens it and there are tons of money in it. He finds a lot more money and he takes a picture of it with his cellphone. When he hears noises coming from a bookshelf, he starts to panic and leaves in a hurry. Moses and Geraldine, carrying Thomas, come in through the bookshelf, they lie Thomas down. She notices all the drawers are open, but she’s too stressed out to do anything about it.
Thomas Morris is in the desert and he’s getting closer and closer to the prophet. He sees his face clearly, he has a huge grin on it. When he tries to touch it, the prophet moves and Thomas falls on the ground. He gets up and looks behind him and the shapes are closing in fast. He asks the prophet for help and he helps him get up. They run together, trying to get away, but the prophet purposely trips Thomas and the shapes consume him. In the real world, as Geraldine leans in to kiss her, she notices he’s not breathing anymore. She doesn’t say it to Moses, instead she gives him the document that explains everything and asks him to give it to Tom when he will come. She wants to be alone with her husband. Moses gives the document to Tom who reads it. Everything was a lie, there was no prophet, no immortality, humanity will not disappear like that thanks to technology, everything was a lie from the start. The only reason why they kept on was because they are rich. Everyone gave them their money and Thomas was such a good orator that people believed in him. They ended up liking their simplistic life and kept on. When they went on spiritual retreat, they went in town to enjoy themselves. The message ends by stating that Tom is now the leader and he must carry on. Shocked by all of this, Tom tears up the document in two and angered that he was lied to all his life, he gathers everyone to the chapel, he will tell them the truth.
Geraldine, who hugged her deceased husband for a long time after his departure finally leaves her room and she starts to look for people. She finds everyone in the church and she can feel something’s not right. When she enters, everyone turns around and stares at her. She looks up the stage and sees Tom and Verne looking at her, disappointed, Tom a bit angrier. Tom says she was the second architect behind this mountain of lies and people start to scream. Geraldine realises what’s happening and starts to cry as people get closer and closer to her. Their life is over, the lie was revealed by her own flesh and blood.
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