Deep in Appalachia, Pastor Lemuel Childs officiates over an isolated community of serpent handlers, an obscure sect of Pentecostals who freely take up venomous snakes to prove themselves before God. As his loyal daughter, Mara prepares for her wedding day, under the observant eye of Hope Slaughter, a dangerous secret is unearthed, and she is forced to confront the deadly tradition of her father's church.