Advance screenings of Heretic at Alamo Drafthouse theatres will be a multi-sensory experience, filling the room with the smell of blueberry
The A24 horror film Heretic, which is coming our way from the writing and directing duo of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, is set to receive a wide theatrical release on November 8th – but advance screenings are set to take place on October 30th, and Variety reports that A24 is teaming up with Joya Studio and Alamo Drafthouse to turn some of those screenings into multi-sensory experiences! The multi-sensory screenings will be exclusive to Alamo Drafthouse theatres and will only take place on October 30th. Variety notes, “Tickets to the multi-sensory screenings at Alamo Drafthouse are available for purchase here. All other advanced screenings will have exclusive treats and scratch-and-sniff cards that will immerse viewers in the film.”
Hugh Grant – whose credits include Notting Hill, Love Actually, Wonka, and Unfrosted – stars in Heretic, which has the following synopsis: Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
Grant has previously said that he finds villain roles to be “more fun” to play, explaining why he has chosen to play the villain in this scenario. It should be very interesting to watch him take on a diabolic role in a horror movie, and the trailers give a nice preview of the performance he has delivered. He is joined in the cast of Heretic by Chloe East (The Fabelmans) and Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) as the missionaries. Grant hasn’t done much horror in his career, but he did have a role in Ken Russell’s Bram Stoker-inspired supernatural horror comedy The Lair of the White Worm back in 1988.
Beck and Woods’ previous credits include A Quiet Place (they wrote the original script), Haunt (as writers/directors), Nightlight (writers/directors), Spread (writers/directors), the “Adam Driver vs. dinosaurs” movie 65 (writers/directors), and an episode of 50 States of Fright (writers/directors). They also (alongside Mark Heyman) received writing credits on the Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman – which happened to star Sophie Thatcher, who turned in a great performance in a movie I thought was just okay overall.
JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the opportunity to watch Heretic earlier this month and gave the movie a 7/10 review that can be read at THIS LINK. He said Grant “radiates fiendishly clever intelligence, and he’s given a sadistic streak I didn’t see coming, which feels bold for a mainstream horror flick.”
For the multi-sensory experience screenings, theatres will be made to smell like blueberry during a pivotal scene. As Variety informs us, “The aroma will be activated at Alamo theatres via Joya Studio’s atomization technology, which employs cold-air diffusion to disperse scented molecules as fine, dry air without the use of heat, water or alcohol.”
Beck and Woods provided the following statement: “The blueberry pie in Heretic is activated by Hugh Grant’s Mr. Reed as a metaphor for blind faith and a disturbing reminder to question everything. When we first heard A24’s bold idea to resurrect the multi-sensory experience to underline this crucial sequence it made us howl with laughter. We’re so excited that audiences have this unique opportunity to be immersed in the world of the film.“
Frederick Bouchardy, founder of Joya Studio, added: “Humor is really missing from the fragrance world by and large. That a scented candle is a main character in this film changes the stakes. Instead of irreverent creative expression, we are implicated in the experience — and love it!“
Would you like to attend a multi-sensory experience screening of Heretic? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.