The Revival

A hungry drifter who arrives at Eli’s church seeking shelter and connection. He is drawn to Eli, and their bond becomes complicated by his hidden sexuality and his domestic vulnerability. He secretly cooks meth, shows resilience in the face of rejection, and ultimately reveals his feelings, testing the boundaries of faith and desire.

A preacher struggling with faith, desire, and alcohol. He shifts from a steady pulpit approach to flamboyant revivalism to mobilize his flock, even as personal secrets threaten to undo him. His willingness to “heal” others in public reveals how power and performance can blend with genuine faith.

Eli’s pregnant wife who navigates betrayal with quiet strength. She becomes a catalyst for confrontation, ultimately revealing a photograph that exposes the affair and sets the stage for the revival’s chaotic fallout. She embodies loyalty, suspicion, and resolve in the face of a collapsing marriage.

Eli’s friend and a recovering alcoholic who champions the Revival as a way to save his church. He is ambitious but haunted by sobriety struggles, and his actions—from promoting the event to brutal intervention—reveal a willingness to cross lines for the sake of tradition and control.

A parishioner torn by forbidden attraction to his cousin Missy. He observes and contributes to the tension around sexuality within the church, acting as a foil to Eli’s attempts to choreograph the community’s feelings. His presence underscores a moral murkiness beneath the surface.

A figure of public faith who exemplifies the media-driven revival culture—the man who programs and promotes the event on the airwaves, highlighting how public religion can influence private lives.

Jimmy’s cousin and a young woman who crosses paths with the church’s tensions over desire and belonging. She ends up entangled in the community’s sexual dynamics and finds herself navigating a new, complicated social orbit by the end.