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Former pastor turned reluctant activist. Hollowed by grief after his wife Shay's death from pancreatic cancer, Mack abandons his faith and pulpit in a devastating public breakdown. His journey from spiritual leader to truth-seeker is fueled by rage, guilt, and the desperate need to give Shay's death meaning.

Environmental journalist with a tarnished reputation. Fired from Seattle Times after a source fabricated evidence, she's one mistake away from career obliteration. Returns to Tennessee following her grandmother's cancer death—the spark that reveals Summertown's toxic secret. Sharp, driven, and desperate to prove her integrity.

Church deacon. Warns Mack to stop investigating, prioritizes "protecting the church" over truth. Represents institutional gatekeeping and misplaced loyalty.

Tanner Industries General Counsel. The film's most morally complex antagonist. Reveals her father died from plant-related lung cancer, yet defends Tanner because they pay for her daughter's insulin and mother's nursing home. Cold professionalism masking profound self-loathing. Represents systemic complicity: good people trapped in bad systems.

Weathered local sheriff. Refuses to investigate harassment or threats against Mack and Ren. The film's most overt corrupt official—literally phones Tanner after Mack leaves: "You want him gone, you'll have to do it yourself." Bought and paid for, protecting corporate interests over citizens.

Black SUV surveillance teams, armed private security, process servers delivering $5M lawsuits. Faceless corporate intimidation apparatus. They block roads, break into motel rooms, commit vandalism as threats. The banality of evil: just following orders, cashing checks.

Riverside Motel owner. Stage 3 lung cancer, never smoked. Trembling hands, blood-flecked coughs, grayish skin. Provides the testimonial heart of the investigation. Dies before cleanup begins, but his final wish—"Make them know my name"—becomes the rallying cry.

Community elder on constant oxygen. Wheezing, persistent cough, but possesses fire-in-belly determination. Organizes community meetings, spearheads class action lawsuit, and becomes the grassroots leader when institutional help fails. Post-cleanup: lungs improve, no longer needs oxygen.

Mack's wife. Pancreatic cancer, Stage 4. Her death is the inciting incident that breaks Mack's faith and reveals the pattern. Though she never appears alive on screen, her presence haunts every frame—wedding photos, prayer journal entries, the empty church pew, the contaminated well water she drank daily.

Summertown's only physician. Exhausted, kind, morally conflicted. Keeps meticulous records of 47 cancer cases in 18 months—8x the expected rate. Risks his practice and livelihood by providing anonymized medical data. His locked drawer contains the smoking gun: proof the county ignored his warnings 6 months prior.

Church elder. Lost her husband to "kidney failure" (likely contamination). Initially skeptical of Mack's investigation, she represents the community's reluctance to confront painful truths. Her public testimony at the EPA hearing is devastating and pivotal.

EPA Environmental Protection Division attorney. Professional, strategic, operates within bureaucratic constraints. Subtly guides Ren toward public exposure: "Public attention often accelerates bureaucratic processes." Uses media pressure to force EPA action. Represents good actors inside broken systems.

Ren's editor. Tough, pragmatic, gives Ren "one last chance" after Seattle debacle. Demands bulletproof sourcing: "Every fact checked. Every source verified. I'm not losing MY job because you got burned twice." Publishes despite $5M lawsuit threat.

Environmental lawyer from Baxter & Klein (Ohio). Sued Tanner in 1987, won. Takes Summertown case on contingency. Appears via video call at community meeting, provides legal expertise and hope. Secures $47M settlement divided among 53 families (~$900K each).

Visiting pastor filling Mack's role after resignation. Kind face, traditional delivery, doesn't understand the town's trauma. Represents faith as usual when crisis demands radical action. Not antagonistic, just inadequate to the moment.

Tanner Industries CEO. Notably absent from the entire film—never appears in person, only through legal proxies and corporate statements. His absence is deliberate: the facelessness of corporate evil, the impossibility of confronting the truly powerful. The ghost at the feast.

Only appears in sun-faded photo in Ren's car visor: young Ren (18) with grandmother at Tennessee farmhouse. Lung cancer, never smoked. Her death brings Ren back to Tennessee and provides the personal stake that drives investigative obsession. Parallel to Shay—love converted to action through loss.