‘Heretic’ Interview: Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East Face a Different Kind of Monster [November Cover Story]
A24’s unmissable new horror release, Heretic, features dual young heroines portrayed by rising stars, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East. This classically frightening A24 phantasmagoria is sure to rattle audiences later this month with its subterranean exploration of religion, trust, control, and, most interesting of all, fear.
Heretic, directed by filmmaking duo Beck and Woods (Haunt), tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries (Thatcher and East) who embark on a good-faith journey but become trapped in a nightmare when their outreach leads them to a secluded home with a dark secret. As they attempt to spread their message, they’re drawn into a sinister web of rituals and buried traumas when a malevolent force (Hugh Grant) violently challenges their core beliefs. Forced to confront their deepest fears, they quickly reach the understanding that not all salvation is divine—and not all who seek redemption can be trusted.
With their own personal real-life histories rooted in the Mormon Church, both young stars breathe unprecedented authenticity into a disturbing story that delves deep into the complex underground of spirituality and belief. Thatcher and East’s shared background and love for horror lend the latest Beck and Woods spookhouse a weight that elevates it high above its escape-room subgenre contemporaries.
For both talented performers, religion plays an integral role in their understanding of horror. “Everyone’s grown up with religion in some form, whether they’re religious or not,” Thatcher tells me. She’s right, of course; religion is an unavoidable cultural influence that inevitably leaves its mark on all of us, regardless of our beliefs. “There’s a lot of guilt attached to it,” she explains. “It doesn’t have to be negative, but it’s something everyone has a connection to in some sort of way.” This connection between spirituality and guilt is a powerful theme in Heretic, a horror film that intimately explores what happens when forces of cruelty attempt to exploit someone’s faith.
East echoes this idea, expanding on how Heretic tackles one of the most universal philosophical questions. “Why are we here?” East asks, adding that horror offers an unusual space to confront those mysteries. Her character experiences what she describes as the “complete opposite” of the peaceful spirituality that religion sells. “Religion promotes good spirits and holiness, but then you have Satan, Lucifer… this whole… opposite,” she says. In a way, horror reflects the dual nature of faith: a source of comfort and a wellspring of dread.
A Legacy of Faith: Sophie is Mormon Royalty … Really
Thatcher, the breakout star of FX’s killer post-modern horror series Yellowjackets, continues to reveal her unique and personal connection to Mormonism in our conversation, adding an almost shocking layer of reality to her performance. The casting team didn’t initially know about her history with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints until she felt the moment was right. Her lineage within the community is that of “Mormon royalty,” and she notes some downright bizarre trivia. “My great uncle was one of the prophets,” she tells me to my honest surprise. This means that her family does not just belong to the mysterious history of LDS, but was involved from the very beginning. Thatcher’s unique background helped inform her portrayal in profound ways, particularly her nuanced understanding of Mormonism’s unique place in contemporary culture.
Thatcher reflects on the challenges of portraying Mormons authentically, especially given how often they’re depicted as “the butt of the joke” in mainstream media. “There’s so much out there,” she says, referencing pop culture portrayals like The Book of Mormon musical and South Park. Instead of reducing her character to an obvious stereotype, she worked closely with the directors to give her role a more balanced complexity. “It’s easy to play into the caricature of Mormonism,” she admits. “But I think they saw a truthfulness in us.” For Thatcher, Heretic was a chance to show the more serious, even unsettling, side of a faith tradition that audiences rarely see portrayed with depth on screen. Especially in the age of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
Going East: Chloe on the Dangers of the Mission
For Chloe East, Heretic allowed her to draw on a unique aspect of her life. While Thatcher’s family connection lent gravitas to her role, East’s familiarity with friends who went on Mormon missions gave her invaluable insight into her character’s mindset and vulnerability. As a missionary in Heretic, East’s character faces a series of terrifying events that test the endurance of her faith. To ensure her portrayal was authentic, East contacted friends who had recently completed missions and even texted them during filming for advice on specific scriptures or personal rituals that missionaries might use for comfort in extreme circumstances.
“There’s this really cool shot after the title sequence where we’re walking up stairs,” she says, then recounting how she asked a friend for a piece of Scripture to fit her character’s situation. Her friend suggested one, which East incorporated into the scene. “It’s in the movie,” she says proudly. “It’s pretty spot on to the trials we go through.” In Heretic, these details not only lend realism but also create a haunting resonance that wouldn’t be achievable without East’s dedication to understanding her character’s faith.
East explains that the horror of the film is rooted in something that missionaries truly fear: the idea of being trapped in a dangerous situation with someone who might not have their best interests at heart. “My brother went on a mission to Japan, and he told me, ‘This is actually every missionary’s worst fear,’” East reveals. Missionaries, she explains, operate on a foundation of trust, meeting strangers daily and entering their homes. “You meet with people, and you have to trust them,” East says. She describes how missionaries must be open to everyone they encounter, a vulnerability that Heretic exploits chillingly. “It’s terrifying,” she admits. “Now it’s out there.”
A24’s History of Horror: From Hereditary to Heretic
A24’s influence on horror cinema has been nothing short of transformative this past decade, and Thatcher and East are thrilled to be part of its growing catalog. Both are fans of the studio’s films, which often blend horror with complex themes and artistic cinematography. Thatcher, in particular, praises Hereditary and The Witch, citing both as standout films that have shaped her understanding of horror as an art form. “They’ve really mastered the genre and heightened horror in a way,” she says. For Thatcher, A24 films go beyond jump scares and gore, challenging audiences to think about horror on a deeper, more emotional level. “People look at horror in a different way now,” she says. “It’s more artistic.”
East, meanwhile, has her own wishlist when it comes to potential future horror projects. Though she’s thrilled to be part of an A24 film, she dreams of a role in a classic horror franchise like Night of the Living Dead. “B-movie horror, like back in the day, but today … with a spin on it,” she muses. “We’re lacking some of those fun, silly horror films from the ‘80s. We need that again.” East’s respect for horror’s past and present speaks to her love for the genre, as well as her eagerness to see it evolve. The way she and Thatcher complement each other as opposites is charming, in real life and on film.
Formative Fear: The Films That Still Haunt Thatcher and East
As lifelong horror fans, Thatcher and East share memories of the films that first terrified them as kids. Thatcher, who was only seven or eight when she saw Pan’s Labyrinth, recalls being “ruined” by the movie’s infamous hand-eye creature. “I couldn’t get it out of my head,” she laughs, admitting that she now loves the film and sees it as a masterpiece. For her, the scene is “up there” with the most disturbing moments in horror, right alongside the car ride scene from Hereditary.
East, on the other hand, has a special relationship with The Shining, a film that both terrified and fascinated her growing up. She even had a framed photo of The Shining’s iconic black-and-white final shot in her childhood bedroom. “I thought it was so creepy,” she says, adding, “I kind of wanted it in my room for people to see.” East says she loved showing The Shining to friends, delighting in their reactions to a movie that still ranks as one of her favorites. The sign of a true horror fan in the making.
A New Kind of Horror
In my positive review of Heretic out of its TIFF world premiere, I called it “a surprisingly intense chamber piece with three excellent performances that help to lift the film high above its escape room-horror contemporaries.” It’s been a hot minute since an A24 horror film was able to seriously scare us and Heretic has the potential to be the Talk to Me of 2024.
Heretic, starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East hits theatres on Friday, November 8th, 2024. Get your tickets here.
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