Utah And Heretic
Sister Paxton (Chloe East, left) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher)
By Marcos Medina Cortes, December 20th 2025
Heretic is an A24 movie about two Mormon missionaries who knock at the door of a heretic man who traps them, and to get out they must turn to their faiths to make it out alive.
The movie was written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who co-wrote the hit thriller “A Quiet Place.”
Heretic has been labeled a “Psychological Horror/Thriller movie” and was released on the 8th of November 2024.
For starters the word “Heretic” refers to someone whose beliefs or actions are considered wrong by most people, because they disagree with beliefs that are generally accepted.
The movie has sparked a lot of controversy in the state of Utah where some theaters are even boycotting the movie claiming that “it is bad representation of the LDS church”.
The Deseret News have commented their views on why and how it is an inappropriate movie and “bad” representation of the LDS church saying, “the writers of ‘Heretic’ attacked religion” and “Hollywood should produce more well-rounded religious content” saying that Hollywood tends to paint religion in a bad light.
A paper published in the Journal of Religion and Demography found that the percentage of Utahns who identify as Mormon is close to 42% in the state of Utah.
The Salt Lake tribune comments on heretic saying, “it ignores LDS Church culture” and that it’s a waste of their talent because they enjoyed the cinematography.
Although the movie is sparking a lot of controversy in Utah it wasn’t meant too, but it was probably going to. The point of the movie was to start a controversial conversation on religion and faith.
Actresses Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher who play sisters Paxton and Barnes in Heretic are former Mormons.
When Chloe East first auditioned for her role, she said she was “bummed” because I thought I couldn’t do it.” She knew her character Sister Paxton was a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I had assumed that it was some very polarizing, one-sided view on religion,” East said in a Zoom interview. She grew up in the Latter-day Saint faith though is not currently practicing), and because she knows many people still active in the church, she said “I just couldn’t do that to my friends.”
Then she read the script for “Heretic” and changed her mind.
“I realized that it really is so open to interpretation and that they don’t show these missionaries as stereotypes, and it really is left open to the viewer,” East said. “And it was much smarter than I anticipated, and I really wanted to do it after that initial first read.”
Sophie Thatcher who plays Sister Barnes also grew up LDS but is also as East, not currently practicing. Like East, Thatcher said she had a similar experience reading the “Heretic” script for the first time.
“Within the first couple of scenes, it draws you in immediately,” Thatcher said.
