'Heretic' stars Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East tap into Mormon upbringing for horror film with Hugh Grant

Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's horror film Heretic (now in theatres) is a thrilling and intellectual take on the genre that feels particularly unique. Starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, the film begins when two Mormon missionaries find themselves discussing religion with an evil and wicked man.

If your only knowledge of Mormons, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), is from The Book of Mormon, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Heretic is going to be a very different experience for you. In the film Sister Barnes (Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (East) are sent to the home of Mr. Reed (Grant), who's interested in discussing their religion.

When they arrive, Mr. Reed lets them in and offers them blueberry pie, a nice enough gesture. But Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton politely inform him that they can't be alone with him, there needs to be another woman present. Mr. Reed responds promptly by calling his wife out to the living room, but while they wait for her, they begin talking about religious practices.

It's clear that Mr. Reed is already particularly knowledgable about not just Mormonism, but religion and philosophy more broadly.

As you may expect, Mr. Reed's wife never comes out, and Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton end up trapped in the home, which begins this sinister story.

With Beck and Woods being close friends for decades, the film is reflective of the conversations they've had throughout the years about religion.

"So much of this film feels very emotional, evoking conversations that we've had about religion, our own religious beliefs, religious non-beliefs, and also the fascination with cults, like the NXIVM cult, Scientology, and how the power of control kind of permeates throughout these systems and can totally take a hold of somebody's thought process and ideologies," Beck told Yahoo Canada during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

"It's also a conversation about the fear of death, because we've known each other for 30 years now, so many family members or our friends that have passed away, it immediately confronts you with that existential question of, why are we here? And what happens when you're gone? It's a provocative conversation that we've had. It's a terrifying conversation that we've had, and for us, this movie hopefully is encapsulating those ideas."

'She needs to be a good missionary'

Interestingly, both Thatcher and East grew up Mormon, something the film's directors/writers didn't know when they were cast for their roles.

"This is every missionary's worst fear," East said.

But as individuals who have friends and family members who have been missionaries, there's an added level of responsibility to be true to that experience, within the context of this film.

The movie isn't constructed as a sort of Mormon hit piece, but rather uses those beliefs and practices as a way into the psychological and philosophical elements of the story. As East said, when she read the script she thought it was either written by someone who is or was Mormon, or they're just incredibly informed.

"I have so much empathy for everybody, whether or not we understand a belief system or somebody's upbringing," Woods said. "We kind of immersed ourselves in that culture and did our best to get it right."

There are certainly intricacies in the story that both Thatcher and East were able to tap into, like understanding that Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton wouldn't know each other particularly well, with Mormon missionaries changing companions relatively frequently. They also were able to authentically dive into reasons why these missionaries wouldn't think about the dangers of going into Mr. Reed's home any more than they do in the film.

"You're a representative of the church," East said. "She needs to be a good missionary ... and she really wants to talk to this man about [her religion]."

For Thatcher's character, there an interesting element where she's particularly able to go toe-to-toe with Mr. Reed in discussions about religion, with Heretic also teasing a couple elements from her childhood, like the death of her father, to add a particular complexity to the character.

"I'm glad that I was able to play the character and with all these levels," Thatcher said. "We can fully be engaged in dialogue. ... It's stimulating."

She added that while it wasn't required of her, she wrote a full backstory for Sister Barnes to really get into the headspace of this character.

"That essay that Sophie wrote, I remember us being blown away, because there was so much thought and empathy and heart that was built into that character," Beck said. "And these are characters that for us are incredibly watchable, incredibly redeeming, and anytime that somebody can fully live in their skin, I think it brings across an empathy that hopefully an audience connects to."

Casting Hugh Grant: 'We trust him'

When it came to casting Grant as the film's villain, Beck and Woods highlighted that it is the public's existing relationship with the actor, through his work on films like Notting Hill, Love Actually and Bridget Jones's Diary, that made him perfect for the role.

"He has a relationship with the audience," Woods said. "It spans 30 years. We trust him. We love him. We're charmed by him."

"To be able to disarm the audience and disarm the characters when they enter his house, it was just absolutely crucial to the movie working."

The filmmaker's also revealed that Grant told them this is, "one of if not the hardest role" he's ever played.

'It's always nice to go into the unknown'

But what's particularly impactful about Heretic is that it feels new, it feels unique, which pushes against the sort of fatigue of movie-goers related to the number of remakes and sequels in theatres. As the filmmakers highlighted, "originality" is critically important to them.

"We are a little nostalgic for like, 10, 20, 30 years ago in cinema, where every weekend at the box office it's not just a sequel or a remake or a superhero movie. We love those movies too, but that's all there is. Like, is there anything else?" Woods said.

"It's also a culmination of our shared taste, where we consume so much David Fincher, but also we love [Jean-Luc] Godard and we love [Fran?ois] Truffaut and we love Alexander Payne," Beck addd. "There's a discomfort in a lot of Alexander Payne movies that we love, and you're laughing at these characters in these very dark situations. And yet, we also are students of horror and how that genre provokes an audience."

"It's always nice to go into the unknown too. ... The fun is really going into the void and not knowing what you're going to come out with, and whether it fails or succeeds, you're really able to just enjoy that process of using your imagination."