Preach (2023)

Reverend Carl "Preach" MacNicol is down to his last chance: redemption and freedom, or failure and prison. With the Great Depression dug in, folks in the down-on-its-luck town of Nineveh, Georgia need jobs, hope and a new pastor. Carl "Preach" MacNicol will be dispatched to shepherd them, as soon as he gets out of prison. Preach is haunted, though, by his experiences as a World War I Army chaplain. He's plagued with a whiplash temper that has gotten him into trouble one too many times. But Preach's reputation for hands-on compassion and humble but piercing sermons have earned him a sudden parole, thanks to an unknown guardian angel. Now, he has one last chance to redeem himself and earn back his freedom. Arriving at Nineveh's First Methodist Church hurt, hungry and reeking of skunk, with an injured sharecropper in tow, Preach's unseemly appearance immediately splits the congregation. Doc Joe and his wife Maggie, bound together by their own private demons, take to Preach. So does the ostracized young Matthew, all the while eyed by his protective and widowed mother Rebecca. But sensing a threat to his grip on the town, Constable Pless Crawford soon begins plotting Preach's undoing. In his new home, Preach must rediscover his tarnished faith to navigate tough times, local corruption and rampant racism while battling his own trauma and keeping his violent outbursts in check. If he fails, Preach's new flock and his newfound freedom, might be lost for good.