Michael Gallagher’s The Leader is worth watching for the strong performances of Tim Blake Nelson, Vera Farmiga, Jim Parsons, and Simon Rex. They portray members of the UFO cult Heaven’s Gate, 39 of whom committed the largest ever American mass suicide in 1997.
Some of the nightmarish imagery in the film won’t leave my head anytime soon, especially the close-ups of Nelson’s character Do’s face. Gallagher, who grew up in the neighborhood where the suicides took place, has crafted a fine film. The performances could easily have felt like parody, but the cast is too good to let that happen. The only drawback for me was that I did not find the characters particularly fascinating, which made it difficult to become emotionally invested in the story.
