The film features an amazing cast including Jim Parsons, Simon Rex, Grace Caroline Currey, and Vera Farmiga as Bonnie Nettles, and Tim Blake Nelson as Marshall Applewhite. Writer and Director Michael J. Gallagher got his start on YouTube in what is becoming an increasing wave of absolutely phenomenal films coming out of the online space.
The Cast and the Figures they Portray
Gallagher's script and direction do a phenomenal job of doing something that Jim Parsons spoke about in the post-screening q+a, and that is highlighting how "un-crazy" everyone really was.
Instead of spending the runtime trying to freak you out and disturb you through disrespectful, dramatized performances, the film makes an incredibly noble attempt to realize the humanity of every single person involved in the Heaven's Gate tragedy, and what circumstances may have led them to forming the group. The result is a much more disturbing and frightening film because of the honesty and respect it gives its subjects. It shortens the distance of a tragedy like this and highlights how easy it is to end up indoctrinated, or worse.
Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles holding a Heaven's Gate meeting.Photo by Bettmann on Getty Images
Of course, leading the film you have Nelson and Farmiga as the leaders of Heaven's Gate. There is such a profound sadness to these characters that makes their positions as manipulators within this cult so much more layered and complex. Farmiga is absolutely excellent, shouldering much of the internal conflict of someone in this situation. She takes what could be outwardly perceived as an objectionable person in Bonnie Nettles, and imbues within her so much tragedy and humanity. She is the emotional blade that cuts through the horror and makes this film work so well.
Outstanding Filmmaking
Gallagher comes into every scene of this with such interesting and new ideas that the biopic genre is in desperate need of. I liken his filmmaking here to be much more in line with Sean Durkin's The Iron Claw, or Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in the way that it utilizes much more subjectivity, symbolism, and unique structural ideas as opposed to your typical Wikipedia article style biopic.
The cinematography is wonderful. The shot selection serves really well to give the audience solid ground when its needed, and then rip a sense of reality away whenever necessary. You never get to relax throughout, with the camera always leaving you uneasy.
The Leader is a gem of a film, understanding the universal truth that the closer something is to the audience, the more frightening and understandable it becomes. The cult we see in this film is not the monstrosity that the media and the popular consciousness have created, but instead a group of broken people trying their best to find a place to fit in this world. In the same way organized religion serves as a refuge for wayward souls, Heaven's Gate was a community where people tried to find a sense of belonging. Things ended up spiraling, and as a result, there are 39 people no longer with us, which is a tragedy nobody should make light of.
Related: Legendary Filmmakers Reunite for the 50th Anniversary of 'Taxi Driver' and Share Little-Known Secrets From the Set
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