George Went Hensley (1881 - 1955) a native of rural Appalachia, was an American Pentecostal minister of the Church of God, best known for popularizing the practice of snake handling. Snake handling was an outgrowth of the Azusa Street revival. In 1910, after reading in Mark 16:18 "they shall take up serpents... and it shall not hurt them," former bootlegger George Went Hensley, aka "Little George," took a rattlesnake box into the pulpit. He reached in and lifted out the venomous viper, showing his faith to take God at his Word. He then challenged his congregation to do the same. News spread throughout the hills of Grasshopper Valley in southeastern Tennessee. Before long, others joined in the handling of rattlers. The practice continued for ten years until one of the faithful died of a snakebite. Hensley moved to Harlan, Kentucky.
Shot in Youngstown and Salem, Ohio.
"Them That Follows" refers and quotes Peter Adair's documentary "Holy Ghost People" (1967) - chronicling the individual, personal experiences of Pentecostal Christians at the Scrabble Creek Church in Scrabble Creek, West Virginia.
Though not credited in the final film or promotional materials, the film shares a basic plot line and several common elements with the 1976 play "Holy Ghosts" by Romulus Linney.
Walton Goggins and Kaitlyn Devers previously were on the show Justified together.