In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo looks to find the “true religion” while discussing “Heretic.” The film follows two young Mormon missionaries who are drawn into a game of cat-and-mouse in a stranger’s house. The Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (“A Quiet Place,” “65”) film stars Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets,” Chloe East (“The Fablelmans”), Topher Grace, and more.
Writer/director Scott Beck and Bryan Woods join the podcast to discuss their buzzworthy religious horror film. During the interview, the longtime friends and collaborators detail the film’s surprising decades-long origins.
“This movie really culminates decades of conversations and interests that Brian and I have had,” Scott said. “You know, growing up religious, but then investigating other religions. Just being fascinated with the organization of religion, of personal relationships with atheism or with actual belief, and trying to put it into a melting pot that combines with, like, ‘why are certain cults so attractive to people? How do you change a core belief system all of a sudden?’ And 10 years or five years down the line, you find yourself totally transformed.
“These things are interesting to us,” Beck continued. “And I think we’ve always felt that the main thing in a horror movie, the thing that is always the monster in the room of every single horror film, is humans’ fear of death, right? We’re all afraid to die. And we’re afraid of this question of what happens when you die. Is there more, or is that it? And religion is medicine for that fear. Religion gives you the belief that things will be okay no matter what. It’s always been an interesting conversation to pick at that and ask ourselves that same question. It just felt perfect for a scary movie.”
The duo also touched on other influences in the chat, specifically the current social media discourse and how it has changed and influenced modern society.
“It’s like watching ‘Heretic,’ it feels native to the YouTube discourse or something that’s kind of emerged in the last five years or so, or maybe even more recently than that,” Woods said. “But I think our standpoint is, ‘Can we approach each side of the equation with as much empathy as possible?’ And that’s why, yes, we nod in agreement with things that Reed is saying, but we also nod in agreement with things that the other characters, Paxton and Barnes, are saying because they’re all on a different spectrum of the relationship with belief or with atheism, disbelief. And that’s the culture where we’re at – we’re quick to divide, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.”
“So I guess a covert ambition of ours is to make a horror film that’s a literal conversation about religion,” Beck continued. “And the hope is that it greases the wheels a little bit for when people, families, and friends leave the theater, maybe they’re just 10% more willing to have that conversation. It’s not like anyone will solve the mystery of religion.”
At the film’s center is Hugh Grant’s delightfully sinister performance, which many fans and critics call a career-best. Beck and Woods noted how apparent it was on-set that they were witnessing something extraordinary.
“We’re just sitting there, we’re going, ‘Oh my God!’ And then the whole crew would erupt. The crew actually would applaud during these sequences that we would just run for like 10-minute takes,” Woods said. “To be clear, we had our crew because it was during the strike, right? So we had a waiver to be allowed to film, but not much production was going on. So, we had Christopher Nolan’s crew, and we had Denis Villeneuve’s crew. They were our crew. They’ve seen it all. They’ve seen everything. And they’re watching Hugh Grant and giving him applause. That was f***ing cool.”
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The film is already garnering praise from critics and fans alike, which likely means the studio will quickly ask for a sequel, right? But is there somewhere to go?
“Yeah, here’s our problem [with sequels],” Beck said. “We had a similar problem with ‘A Quiet Place’ where we can’t help ourselves. I remember when we were 11 and we were writing scripts and movies, we would start on part two. We’d say, ‘This is two and then part three,’ because it was just fun. Like the idea of sequels are fun. So, we’ve got a great idea for a prequel. We’ve got a good idea for a sequel, but we also fucking hate sequels and prequels. What we love is starting something new and asking an audience to come in and see something, hopefully, that they haven’t seen before.”
So, then, what are the duo planning to jump into next?
“There’s like five things actively that we’re pursuing right now that range from a spiritual sequel to Heretic to this massive science fiction film that we would love to get made – it’s like one of the most exciting ideas we’ve ever come up with from a concept standpoint,” Woods said. “And so those swings, the pendulum of going from something like ‘A Quiet Place’ to’ 65’ to ‘Heretic,’ we love to play in that sandbox that kind of expands its parameters as long as we’re lucky to be able to get movies made.”
The Playlist Presents – Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ Film/TV Recommendation Playlist:
1.) “Dial M for Murder” (1954) – Directed By Alfred Hitchcock
2.) “Death and the Maiden” (1994) – Directed By Roman Polanski
3.) “Oleanna” (1994) – Directed By David Mamet
4.) “Sing Sing” (2023) – Directed By Greg Kwedar
5.) “Saturday Night” (2024) – Directed By Jason Reitman
6.) “Challengers” (2024) – Directed By Luca Guadagnino
7.) “Megalopolis” (2024) – Directed By Francis Ford Coppola
“Heretic” hits theaters on Friday, November 8th. You can listen to the full interview below:
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