Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East drew on their Mormon upbringings for the horror film Heretic

It’s a dark and stormy night when two missionaries arrive at the door of the sheepish but Mormon-curious Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). As they enter his secluded cabin, his wife is in the other room baking a blueberry pie. Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher, best known for Yellowjackets) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East, from The Fabelmans) try to convert the smiling Scott, but it’s not long before it’s clear that things aren’t quite as they seem and their fate may no longer be in their hands. Set almost exclusively in the dark cabin, Heretic dives deep into the horror and ecstasy of religious belief systems. A showcase of performances, Heretic is psychological thriller with organized religion on the chopping block. 

Both Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East grew up in religious households. In a film that is often intimate and interior, the credibility of their onscreen relationship becomes key to the film’s success. Speaking about their initial meeting, Thatcher describes the casting process. In the age of self-tapes, it was a rare in-person callback and both actors were matched with other actresses to gauge chemistry. “I heard that Chloe’s mormon. I think there was an instant feeling of sisterhood,” says Thatcher. “There was a distinct dynamic between us. When we’d been cast, I realized that Chloe really loves movies, too, she’s very much a cinephile. It’s sometimes so rare to find actors our age who are deeply invested as a whole. We just had a lot of random similarities.”

Chloe East chimes in, “If anything, we were too close of friends because our characters weren’t supposed to be, but it works in acting, because so much of it is built on trust. There’s always this paranoia when you’re about to be trapped for three months with a person (working on a film): Will I connect with this person? Do I even want to hang out with them? I felt very lucky that it was Sophie. I just feel like it was meant to be us, together.”

With such a limited and intimate location, many of the film’s scenes unfold as long discussions, with a roving camera. The filmmaking style contributes to a sense of growing unease, a feeling of building towards a crescendo. Compared with most films where there are many stops and starts, this film forced the actors into a kind of immersion. “The way (cinematographer) Chung (Chung-hoon) shot it really kept us on our toes,” explains Thatcher. “We had to be present the whole time, because we wouldn’t always know how he would shoot. It was almost like theatre, because you’re doing these incredibly long scenes and you have to be present for the other person, even when it’s not your coverage. There was something really magical about being in these scenes the entire time.”

“In a lot of movies, people are in and out. Someone might disappear for two weeks, but in this case,” says East, “it was just us three every single day on a soundstage. We were really in this routine, and over the course of the shooting, we became really close to each other and we could sit in this hard movie.” East also explains that the film was shot in order, which helped a lot in terms of immersion. “Everyone was in the same boat.”

Having grown up in religious households, the ideas and horror behind Heretic really resonated for the actors. “Growing up religious,” explains Thatcher, “there’s so much instilled anxiety. There’s a lot of guilt and there’s a lot of feeling that if you do something wrong, there’s an impending doom.”

East explains that the stakes always felt enormous. “The consequences of doing something wrong meant you were going to hell.”

“There’s so much darkness with that thinking,” says Thatcher. “For me, growing up, there was this constant image of hell at the back of your mind.”

In horror films, it’s not unusual for characters to behave in ways that audiences might find unrealistic or self-destructive. In Heretic, both Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton find that the tenets of their belief system only pulls them deeper into the rabbit hole: their politeness, grace and obedience allow Mr. Reed to manipulate them. Even when they’re aware he’s no longer trustworthy and they might be in danger, it’s difficult for them to break away from their upbringing to escape. 

“Personally, I am a people pleaser. I don’t know if that’s directly an effect of the Mormon culture I grew up with,” says East, “but image is very important, including how you communicate with people. It’s very service-driven. I leaned into my instinct to be a people pleaser and always keep a smile on my face, even if I feel a different way inside. That was very natural for me. It’s in my blood.”

“Same,” adds Thatcher. “Not to make stereotypes about it, but growing up in a family that is Mormon, you feel sometimes that is the only option. It was easy for me to get back to that feeling of wanting people to like you. It caused me to change the physicality, I had slightly different mannerisms when I was younger, and it crept back into my acting. There was tension because I felt so on edge.” 

While there are many religious horror films, there are few like Heretic. The subject of belief is front and centre, while the horror hinges on the self-destructive nature of belief. Yet, the screenplay isn’t expressively anti-religion either. The film finds a balance between critique and appreciation. It’s not religion that makes the film’s monsters — it’s man. ■

Heretic opens in Montreal theatres on Friday, Nov 8.

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