Directed by Jennifer Gerber, The Revival is effective in its brevity. Running at a lean 84 minutes, the focus is on Eli (David Rysdahl), a young preacher running the church his late, beloved father founded. Unsure of himself and his sermons while money and parishioners run short, he encounters a handsome drifter named Daniel (Zachary Booth) who complicates things further. Based on the play of the same name by Samuel Brett Williams (who also wrote the screenplay), the film leans on Rysdahl and Booth, who are the sure standouts.
While Eli spends the film cloaked in responsibility, fighting his inner urges, Daniel appears free and open. Their chemistry is at once prevalent and vacant, Gerber going well to let the camera linger on reactions from each performer at any given moment. The surrounding community is represented primarily by the bullish Trevor (Raymond McAnally), Eli’s self-appointed hype man, and June (Lucy Faust), Eli’s pregnant wife.
While Eli spends the film cloaked in responsibility, fighting his inner urges, Daniel appears free and open. Their chemistry is at once prevalent and vacant, Gerber going well to let the camera linger on reactions from each performer at any given moment. The surrounding community is represented primarily by the bullish Trevor (Raymond McAnally), Eli’s self-appointed hype man, and June (Lucy Faust), Eli’s pregnant wife.
- 2/16/2018
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
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