Gospel of Deceit

About the movie

In the small town of Heward, Pennsylvania, charismatic Reverend Ted Wendell and his wife of twenty years Emily Wendell are the well-respected power couple behind the Heward Community Church and its associated ministry empire, which currently includes a radio show. Although Emily loves her husband, small signs demonstrate to her that he is slowly pulling away from her, at least professionally, as he starts to make decisions about the ministry without consulting her, at a crucial time where they have been working on moving from the radio show into television. That television deal is now in the works with Ted needing to make a good impression on the decision makers for it to happen. Another unilateral decision Ted makes is to take in and hire a young drifter named Luke McElroy as a handyman, Luke who Ted allows to stay in a room in the church basement. Although Emily doesn't disagree with Ted about not turning away a "lost sheep" as they both see Luke, Emily, unlike Ted who works on instinct, and her intuition don't fully trust Luke because he doesn't talk about himself, which to her means that he's hiding something. However, like most of the female parishioners, Emily cannot deny Luke's own charisma due to his smoldering good looks. Despite Luke knowing that Emily doesn't fully trust him, the two embark on an affair, on Luke's side it eventually turning into love. Emily knows that the affair could spell disaster for her marriage, Ted, the ministry and the possible television deal if they are discovered. Emily's feelings for Luke and their affair may change as Luke slowly starts to expose bits and pieces from his past, most specifically the reason he figuratively showed up on their doorstep, and as issues from Emily's own past associated with what she and Luke are doing start to surface affecting her psyche and religious faith.—Huggo