A group of members from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared their reactions to one of A24’s most recent films, "Eternity," a year after the release of A24’s "Heretic."
A24 gained widespread attention from members of the Church in November 2024 after releasing "Heretic," a horror film following two sister missionaries. A year after this release, members have also drawn parallels between the Church’s doctrine and A24's new film "Eternity."
In an interview with Cinema Therapy's Jonathan Decker and Alan Seawright, the directors of “Heretic” shared their goals and intentions for the film.
“We, as human beings, are too quick to form people into specific silos and that’s just an unfair way to view the world and walk through life with that limited perception,” Scott Beck, one of the directors of Heretic, said in the interview.
However, the A24 marketing campaign associated with “Heretic” relied heavily on the novelty of sister missionaries in peril, due to the recognizable nature of the Church’s missionary efforts.
“I feel like A24 hyped this one pretty hard,” Dan Paul, a Latter-day Saint, said.
Members who went to see the film found themselves in curious crowds at the movie theaters to see if it lived up to this marketing hype.
“I feel the Church was represented fairly well from an outsider’s perspective. It isn’t openly antagonistic and it’s obvious the writers did some kind of research,” Noah Smith, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said.
Though the film is fictional, portraying two sister missionaries in grave peril, members observed that they were also portrayed as intellectual matches for Hugh Grant’s villainous Mr. Reed.
“It portrayed the sister missionaries as fairly competent, often being able to outmaneuver the serial killer. So it doesn’t portray members as stupid religious fanatics,” Smith said.
“Heretic” is rated R for its level of violence. The Church of Jesus Christ has had multiple statements discouraging its members from watching such films, most notably in President Ezra Taft Benson’s 1986 talk, “To the 'Youth of the Noble Birthright.'”
“I am comfortable watching those R-rated movies because I don’t think they need to affect me spiritually. But I think there’s merit in challenging your beliefs. Good art isn’t easy to consume. It should challenge you in some ways or surprise you,” Jordan Corbett, another member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said.
Corbett went on to share his personal interpretations of “Heretic,” claiming that it was more Latter-day Saint friendly than its marketing may have made it seem.
“I think it wasn’t a questioning of Latter-day Saint doctrine. I think it was a question of belief in general and they used sister missionaries as a vehicle for that,” Corbett said.
Neither of the “Heretic” directors, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, are members of The Church of Jesus Christ. However, Dan Paul, Noah Smith and Jordan Corbett, all members of The Church of Jesus Christ, agreed that extensive research was likely done for the film’s sense of accuracy.
“I’m just intrigued. Like, is there a member of the Church or a former member of the Church involved with A24? I would want to know about the process of the storytelling decisions they made,” Corbett said.
Beck and Woods wrote a dedicatory note through A24 in anticipation of “Heretic’s” release: “A Sweet Treat: A Note from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.” They didn’t use it to talk specifically about the Church, but they did discuss the overall belief systems the film touched on.
“We don’t have the answers to the great unknown. Does God exist? Do we just cease to exist when we die? … Perhaps you’ll watch 'Heretic' and arrive at some new conclusions,” they said.
In November 2025, a year after “Heretic’s” release, A24 released “Eternity.” Unlike “Heretic,” it does not explicitly mention or depict The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, members of the Church have found particular parallels between the film and the Church’s doctrines.
“Eternity” is a romantic comedy about the recently deceased Joan, played by Elizabeth Olsen, who must choose which of her two deceased husbands she wants to spend her eternal afterlife with.
“I actually think the film was pretty complex and raised a lot of concerns and issues that we should be thoughtful about,” Paul said.
“Eternity” is a PG-13 feel-good movie. However, its plot devices concerning what happens after death between married couples connected to each of these members.
“My experience going into seeing 'Eternity' was that I was just really curious to see if it was going to have any connections to the Church spiritually,” Addilyn Lewis, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said.
The spiritual connections members found all had to do with the Church’s doctrine about marriages existing past “till death do us part.”
This type of marriage is performed within the Church’s holy temples in ceremonies called “sealings,” detailed in the Church’s General Handbook.
“A temple sealing joins a husband and wife together for time and all eternity,” the handbook says in chapter 27.
The titular term “eternity” is used frequently in the Church’s doctrine, which easily gave members the opportunity to contemplate these teachings when watching the movie.
“It does raise a question I’ve had about the Plan of Salvation for a long time, because I’m a child of divorced parents who were once sealed and my father has remarried and is sealed to my stepmother,” Corbett shared.
Addilyn Lewis also shared a marital experience within her family, similar to the film’s plot.
“My aunt passed away, that was really hard. And my uncle got remarried and sealed to another woman. So I’ve been very curious about what that’s gonna look like for my cousins in the next life,” Lewis said.
Dan Paul discussed his family as well to introduce another topic concerning the Church and how it structures these eternal marriages.
“Because I have a grandmother who remarried but couldn’t be sealed to her second husband, I found 'Eternity' fascinating and thought it illuminated some of the problems and concerns that arise with the question of polygamy and what eternity might look like,” Paul said.
The policy Paul referred to is detailed in the Church’s General Handbook, chapter 38, section 4.
“If a husband and wife have been sealed and the husband dies, the woman may not be sealed to another man unless she receives a cancellation of the first sealing,” it reads.
Paul also discussed the Church’s history with polygamy since he saw “Eternity” shortly after a Sunday School lesson dedicated to the topic.
“I do think there is something to be said about the narrative it presents and since it was in theaters so soon after the ‘Come Follow Me’ discussion about polygamy,” Paul said.
“Come Follow Me” is a scheduled scripture study program from The Church of Jesus Christ. Paul specifically referred to the chapter dedicated to Nov.10-16, which covered chapters in the Doctrine and Covenants discussing polygamy.
“Eternity” was released in theaters on Nov. 26, 2025.
“For me, the struggle of the main character posed quite a conundrum, especially as, within our religious tradition, women can’t be sealed to more than one man at the same time,” Paul said.
Though “Eternity” addressed in depth conundrums that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints face, members also shared details they loved about the film.
“I felt like it was a really positive message that young adults in our church should understand. It teaches them what to look for in their future spouse and to understand that love isn’t perfect,” Lewis said.
The director for “Eternity,” David Freyne, also wrote a dedicatory note through A24 to celebrate the film’s release: “Crafting the Afterlife: A Note from David Freyne.”
“It’s a film in which I got to say so much of what I wanted to about what it is to be alive. And I got to fulfill my childhood ambition of building my own afterlife,” Freyne said.
Freyne is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, members of the Church still speculated that there are explicit connections between “Eternity” and Church doctrine.
“I would argue this one seems even more on the nose than 'Heretic.' Not just the word ‘eternity’ but our doctrine seems to roughly align with the basic premise of the movie,” Corbett said.
These reactions led to discussions about the church’s recent uptick in representation in mainstream media—both positive and negative.
“Honestly, I think Mormonism is having a moment in popular culture,” Paul said.
Paul, as a professor of Italian at BYU, has also taught courses about popular cultures on a global scale. He shared his observations regarding these recent representations of the Church.
“These are cultural products, meaning that what we see on screen tells us a lot about how we are being perceived and about what others’ prejudices toward us or assumptions about us are,” Paul said.
Corbett, as a self-proclaimed movie lover, shared his own assumptions about A24’s connections to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I would assume there’s someone at A24 or someone they’ve hired that either is a member, or is intimately familiar with the Church and its teachings,” Corbett said.
