‘Heretic’ Opening Scene: How Hugh Grant’s Wallpaper Is One Big Rorschach Test

TheWrap magazine: Production designer Philip Messina walks us through the living room set that kicks off A24’s acclaimed horror film

Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in "Heretic" (A24)
Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in "Heretic" (A24)

The living room, an interior designer once said, is the temple of the soul.

That thought takes on a whole new meaning during the taut 20 opening minutes of “Heretic,” which is set entirely within the front sitting room of the grinning Englishman Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), whose name, if pronounced with a slight garble, sounds like the word “mystery.”

On a rainy afternoon, Mr. Reed hosts two Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) for some pie and proselytizing. But this is an A24 horror movie, directed by “A Quiet Place” writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, and the uncool
lounge area is replete with minutiae about what lies beyond — and beneath — the couch and coffee table.

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