Too Scary; Didn't Watch - HERETIC

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

This movie converted us to mormonism and ruined scented candles forever <3Movie Intro @ 24.10Trivia @ 26.40Recap starts @ 36.54Trailer---Follow the show: @TSDWpodcast on Twitter,&nbsp...;TikTok, and Instagram.Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes and additional content!Rate Too Scary; Didn’t Watch 5 Stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave a review for Emily, Henley, and Sammy.Advertise on Too Scary; Didn't Watch via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is a HeadGum Podcast. With the $5 meal deal at McDonald's, you pick a McDouble or a McChicken, then get a small fry, a small drink, and a four-piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money. Price and participation may vary for a limited time only. This is Emily. Henley, and Sammy, and you're listening to Too Scary, Didn't Watch. Hi everyone. Welcome to Too Scary, Didn't Watch, the horror movie recap podcast for those too scared to watch for themselves. I'm Emily and I'm too scared to watch scary movies.
Starting point is 00:00:46 I'm Hemley and I'm also too scared to watch scary movies. I'm Sammy and I love watching scary movies and so I watch them so that you don't have to. And Emily and I both watched today's movie. It's true. Two extremely brave women. Wow. I'm very curious. Two brave women. I'm very curious. To brave women.
Starting point is 00:01:05 I'm so curious. And if you wanna jump straight to our recap, there are timestamps in the show notes, but first we have a little bit of haunted housekeeping, which I just wanted to acknowledge that Creep Tapes is out the series about our favorite creep, Mark Duplass, the cutest creep. Our favorite creep, Mark Duplass, the actor.
Starting point is 00:01:32 I can't remember his character's name. I think it changes in each movie because he's lying about things. Cause he's a creep. And yeah, stay tuned. I think we'll talk about that at some point, but just letting everybody know that we know it's out there and we are doing our due diligence about it.
Starting point is 00:01:56 So also just wanted to say how excited I am for Nosferatu. Ooh. Really excited. I am too. Some earlier reviews came out and almost all of them called it just pure evil. Whoa. I'm also seeing a lot of things
Starting point is 00:02:13 about a very unhinged performance from Lily Rose Depp. And when a performance is described as unhinged, I am, as Evan Roth's cast would say, seated. Yes. And you know- Although I probably won't be seated in the movie theater for this, but I'll be seated right here at my desk
Starting point is 00:02:29 for Sammy to tell me about it. Yes, yes. And you know that she has seen some shit in her life too. You know? Yeah. It's coming from a real place. I thought she was great in The Idol. So I'm very excited.
Starting point is 00:02:42 The Idol, a very, very unhinged TV show, but I thought she was excellent. And yes, I also read, I think it was an interview with Robert Eggers who was saying that there were certain scenes that they could only film one or two takes because he didn't want to make Lily Rose Depp do certain things more than she had to.
Starting point is 00:03:04 You see, and I love to hear that from a director because you don't always hear that from a director, particularly a horror director. I feel like, James Cameron, I'm looking at you. Sometimes we have to do things a lot and it's not nice. That reminds me of the trivia from Practical Magic where Nicole Kidman had just come from Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick made her juice.
Starting point is 00:03:24 70 to 80 shots. Yeah, he's another one. He's another one. 70 to 80. He will. 80. Yeah, he really fucking pushed. Him and Fincher, right?
Starting point is 00:03:33 Fincher will also make you do it, yeah, like 100 times. Oh, so crazy. Pretty wild. I feel like it would be like, you know, when you say soup over and over and over, be like soup, soup, soup, soup, soup. Like how could you do a scene? Yeah, I would go through all the different feelings
Starting point is 00:03:52 about it. I would lose my mind and the whole scene would lose meaning. I would just not understand what any of it meant anymore. And maybe that's kind of the point. Yeah, maybe. Maybe some interesting performances come out at take 90. Hey, look, whatever happened in Eyes Wide Shut, I do agree with.
Starting point is 00:04:10 Yeah, it is a great movie. Anyways, that's all the haunted housekeeping. I just wanted to talk about those two things. And now I want to talk about if anything scary happened to you guys this week. Emily just has her hood today and I feel safe in it. It is really doing I really do feel Protect really do feel safe in it. I feel protected. I feel like I wish I had a hood I don't have one but if I did I don't know
Starting point is 00:04:42 I don't often have a hood, but, and it's like, I feel restricted in a way that feels safe. Like when you wrap a baby in a swaddle where it's like, well, I can't move, I guess I have to go right to sleep. Ken, did you have something to say? I mean, I've been better for sure. Did I tell you guys about May having croup? You just mentioned it, but.
Starting point is 00:05:04 But tell us more, please. So, May had croup last week. And if anyone doesn't know, that means that your baby, your child is up all night long with a horrible sounding cough. They can't breathe, and so they start choking on their cough. And it's like the worst noise in the world. And it's not a big deal, like they're totally fine. Croup is so normal and it's really not a big deal,
Starting point is 00:05:32 but it sounds awful and you sometimes have to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night. But it's not a big deal. But it's not a big deal. So May on Wednesday night, last week, she was up all night long. This is again the day after the election. So Tim and I are already like,
Starting point is 00:05:47 oh, not in a good head space. May's up all night long. I call the pediatrician. I'm like, do I need to take her to the ER? Like, I'm having her like listen to her breathing. And the pediatrician, this is at like 2 a.m. She's like, okay, I think what you need to do is put her in the car and pull put all the windows down and just drive around
Starting point is 00:06:06 until she can breathe normally again. Because the cold air helps the lungs. So Tim takes May, this is now like 3 a.m., takes May out. It feels like a very safe thing to have to do. Puts her in the car, in her her sleep sack, like in the fucking car seat. He's like shoeless in his sweatpants. Illegal. The second...
Starting point is 00:06:34 I'm breaking a lot of laws. Are you supposed to wear shoes when you drive? Is that a thing? By law. Supposed to. Need to. Required to. It is fascinating. Okay. I didn't know that. It's a weird one, but it is a law. So then right when he leaves, Silas wakes up. So he leaves, Silas wakes up. Silas is like screaming, mommy, mommy.
Starting point is 00:06:56 Like having a full meltdown. So I go into his room and I'm like, this is rare for Silas. He doesn't usually wake up in the middle of the night anymore. He used to every single night. He hasn't for a long time. So I go in, I'm stroking his back. I'm like, buddy, what's going on? Are you okay?
Starting point is 00:07:10 Like he won't stop. He won't calm down. Like he's like really upset, really worked up, won't stop crying. Even though now I'm here. And usually when I like get in bed with him, he calms down, but he wasn't calming down. So I was like trying trying to rub his back.
Starting point is 00:07:25 I was like, did you have a bad nightmare? What's going on? Are you okay? And then I was like, do you want water? And he was like, yeah, water. And so I was like, okay, I'll go get you water. That's something I can do. So I go downstairs, I get him water,
Starting point is 00:07:37 I go back upstairs, I'm helping him, blah, blah, blah. Then I realized it's been a while and I don't know where Tim is. Oh my God. And I'm all of a sudden realizing, like, how long has it been? It's been like half an hour. Like, that feels like too long. You're only supposed to be in the car for like maybe max 10 minutes or something.
Starting point is 00:08:00 So then I go to get my phone, but then I realize he's left his phone. And so there's no... He can't contact me if he needs to contact me. So I'm like wandering around the house not sure what to do. And then all of a sudden I hear, I also have all the lights turned off because I don't want him to come home and the lights to be turned on and so May like wake up from the light. So all the lights are completely off. And all of a sudden I start hearing this like, like a very faint knocking, like the quietest knocking you've ever heard in your life.
Starting point is 00:08:34 So quiet. And I was like, what is that? Like, what the fuck is that? And then I realized it was coming from our front door. And part of my brain was like, that's Tim, obviously. And another part of my brain was like, well, I'm dead now. And it's been- Yeah, it's the person who murdered Tim
Starting point is 00:08:49 because Tim should be back by now. And they're coming for me. And I was like, I have no other choice but to open this door. It was like the perfect moment in a horror movie where you're like, don't open the door, don't open the door. I was just talking about this the other day about how it's, when you're watching a horror movie,
Starting point is 00:09:03 it's really easy to say that. But then truly I've had that experience multiple times where you're just like, well, I have to obviously I'm going to open this door. Like, yeah, of course, obviously, I'm going to see what's on the other side. Don't you know, in real life, it's usually fine. Like 99% of the time, it's fine. Probably more than 99% of running on it. I hope it's more than 99% of the time it's fine. Probably more than 99% if we're being honest. I hope it's more than 99% of the time.
Starting point is 00:09:28 That's true. Anyway, I opened it up. It was- Statistically, 100%. It was Tim, he'd been locked out in the hallway with May for like 25 minutes. While I was like dealing with Silas and like not even thinking about it, but the door, our door has this weird lock on it
Starting point is 00:09:45 where like if it's even a little bit like nudged, it'll lock. And so he was in the hallway with May and she was asleep. So he was holding her and she's fucking huge. She weighs 30 pounds now. So like, she's so dense. And also when a baby's sleeping, they're not holding onto in any way. It's just like, you know, like...
Starting point is 00:10:05 Just dead weight. Dead weight. And so... It's fine. Then she went to bed and Silas got his water and everyone was fine. We didn't have to go to the ER. It was all not a big deal, but that was how we spent that Wednesday night. And it was like, yeah, this feels right. This feels right. Well, I just have to tell you guys,
Starting point is 00:10:26 I Googled this and I'm shaken and shocked to report that it is legal to drive barefoot in all 50 states and it always has been. And it's just an urban legend that it's illegal to drive barefoot. Wait. I never even heard that urban legend before. Cause I drive barefoot kind of whenever I can.
Starting point is 00:10:44 I do as well, but I thought I was breaking the law. I did too, I always thought it was illegal. What? Whoa. The fuck? Why would it be illegal? I always assumed it was like- Well, it's not, so I guess there is no reason
Starting point is 00:10:57 why it would be. I thought it was safety. Yeah, I did too, in terms of like- That a barefoot is slippery. Yeah, it's going to slip right off the accelerator. If anything, it seems safer. Yeah. You need the power of the shoe.
Starting point is 00:11:10 You got more grip. Or maybe it's like a, because it's like a helmet for the foot. Yeah, it's protecting your foot. Yeah, I always thought, cause it's like, I think, and Sammy, sorry, I'm gonna call you out. I feel like you do this sometimes.
Starting point is 00:11:23 You take off a shoe and you leave that shoe right below the brake. And that is what- Well, not right below the brake, but on the floor. Okay, but it could easily get below the brake is what I'm saying. There should be nothing on the floor. So I feel like if you take your shoes off,
Starting point is 00:11:37 you gotta move them to the passenger seat. Wow, I never do that. I take one shoe off and I put it to the left of my left foot. Me too. Yeah, but you keep it down there. So if something happens, if you're maneuvering and if the foot slides and you're getting into a crash and you got to put your foot on the brake
Starting point is 00:11:55 and there's uh-oh, there's a shoe there and the brake won't go, that's where my brain goes. Every time I see a rogue Birkenstock down there at Sammy Smart Precious De deer needs to stay alive's feet. I get very scared. I do the same thing. I do the exact same thing. Take those shoes and put them in the,
Starting point is 00:12:12 it's not that hard. Take it and put it in the passenger seat for your friend, Emily, please. Okay. I do it when you're in the car. Do it always, Sammy! I do it for you. The point isn't to only do it when I'm there.
Starting point is 00:12:24 Do it for my sake always, please. Okay. Thank you. I know you're not really good, but thank you for lying to me. Scary thing happened to me as well. Tell us. It's fine, everybody's fine.
Starting point is 00:12:42 The thing is everything's fine, but our wedding photographer who we adore, who's wonderful and talented, is mostly a film photographer. Takes most of her photos on film, which is, they're amazing, it's so cool. And she develops her film at like a special lab that's really great, that's out of state.
Starting point is 00:13:04 So she needs to send her film to that lab and she did that and she sent the film from our wedding to this lab via UPS and they lost it. Oh God. So unbelievably devastating. So we don't have most of the photos from our wedding. No, Emily. And likely never will.
Starting point is 00:13:32 No. Okay, so it was UPS, not USPS. So does anybody who, so this is actually a call. This is a call. It's with the masses. Yeah, truly. Everybody just search a little bit. Just anybody.
Starting point is 00:13:43 Yeah, please go search your local UPS. No, but if anybody like works for UPS or like has any... Tricks? Connections, here's the thing. It's a physical object and a physical package, a physical package that contains two addresses. It's somewhere, right? It's somewhere, but also it's completely lost. So I, on the one hand,
Starting point is 00:14:08 I'm retaining just like the smallest little amount of hope, but I also have had to, Joel and I have had to just accept the fact that likely we will never see those photos, which is, you know, it's fine. We're fine. We're fine. We have the memories. It was a great wedding where it was perfect. We got married to get married and to be with each
Starting point is 00:14:31 other and our loved ones. And we got all of that and it was perfect. It is also really, really heartbreaking. And we did get, we did receive that news on Thursday of election week. So that's tough. That makes it extra tough. And at the same time, I was also like, We did receive that news on Thursday of election week. That's tough. That makes it extra tough. At the same time, I was also devoid of the ability to feel at that point too. It's all kind of just been this gray space in my mind and body and heart. Pretty scary, pretty worst case scenario on that front.
Starting point is 00:15:07 There are some digitals, but the majority were on film and there are plenty of moments from the wedding that were only on film and are therefore gone, including like every single portrait or picture of like just me and Joel. Like we have literally zero of those. You know, it's really sad, but maybe they'll show up at some point in our lives.
Starting point is 00:15:30 We need to manifest. Can I just ask like, where did they disappear? Or what does like tracking info, what did it say? You know, it's a great question, what we think has happened. So she, you know, has been really investigating this and working on this, and we now have all the information and all the tracking and we have been trying to follow up as well and the label was created
Starting point is 00:15:51 at the UPS store in Yucca Valley, if anybody knows. And after that point, they have no idea what happened to. Whoa, whoa, that quickly. Either like not ever scanned, but did leave the premises. So maybe it's on a truck, maybe it's in another facility, but doesn't have a scan.
Starting point is 00:16:15 So there's no record of it. So nobody like knows what to do with it, which is a crazy, it's like, it's somewhere. Like it is somewhere. And it just cause you didn't scan it, like it has addresses on it. Like it's a physical thing. It's crazy, it's like, it's somewhere. Like it is somewhere. And it, just cause you didn't scan it, like it has addresses on it. Like it's a physical thing. It's fucking somewhere.
Starting point is 00:16:29 Like, I don't know how it works again. Maybe one of you works for UPS. And again, like God bless UPS workers. Like, oh, it's so much that they have to do. And so I'm not, and we're fallible human beings who make mistakes. I see how these things can happen, but I'm just sort of like, where, like it.
Starting point is 00:16:49 Where is it? It's not like it like the film exploded when she took it out of the camera. It's like, it's like, it's, it's somewhere. That's what's haunting when you lose something. It's like, you know it's out there. Yeah, also if anybody, I know that this is what Sammy wishes her magical power would be, which is the ability to find and see lost things.
Starting point is 00:17:07 If one of you has that superpower, also, please use it. Now's the time to speak up. Please use it on this. You know, yeah, it's just one of those things that like just is true and it's sad and it happened and it's sort of like, all right, that's just a sad thing that happened that we're sad about. But what can you do? You know? AMTHAE Just like the true stages of grief, I feel still stuck in denial. I'm like, well, they're gonna show up. But it's just, you got to process all the emotions. Yeah. This reminds me of two things. One is that this won't help you now, Emily,
Starting point is 00:17:48 but anyone listening who might be in a similar situation at Netflix, we would put trackers on anything that we were worried about losing. Yeah. There's a lot of things I think that could have happened differently in the way this was handled. But hindsight's 20 to 20, baby. in the way this was handled, but hindsight's 20 to 20, baby. And it's never happened before to our photographer,
Starting point is 00:18:12 but doesn't mean it can't happen, obviously, because it did. And I think, honestly, I think me and Joel are handling it really well. I think so, too. I think we're doing a really good job. I wish it hadn't happened to us, but if it was gonna happen to somebody
Starting point is 00:18:31 for our photographer's sake, I'm kind of glad it happened to us because I think we're handling it really well. But yeah, I do think like lessons maybe have been learned hopefully in terms of like how this should be handled. But again, it's a thing about about grief and you have to be like, but that's not what happened. Like what happened is they're lost. So you can't spend that much time fighting it.
Starting point is 00:18:59 But this is good advice for anybody else who's going to worry about losing a precious thing. Yeah, I mean, you could get a tracker, Apple tag or whatever, you know, there's things, things to be done that weren't done. But this is not the same at all. But I'll still say it, which is that my sophomore year of college, I also got a new laptop and every single photo I'd ever taken from the time I was like 13 and got a digital camera was somehow lost in the transfer from that new laptop to the old or the old laptop. So I lost like every photo I'd ever taken in high school or my freshman year of college. And I remember being at the Apple genius bar and the guy being like, you're handling this
Starting point is 00:19:41 really well. And I was like, I don't think I would like what's other options? What else can you do? Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's the thing too. It's like, you're handling this really well. And I was like, I don't think I would like what's other option. What else can you do? Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's the thing, too. It's like, we're really upset that this happened, but also like things happen. Like, you know, yeah, things, files get deleted, things get lost. We live in a chaotic world where things don't happen the way that we want them to. Which is another thing about the timing of this happening, like, you know, it's so much smaller in so many ways,
Starting point is 00:20:10 obviously, but like the timing of it happening that week, it was just sort of like, yeah, shit's bad sometimes. Like things happen that I'm like, well, but it shouldn't have and like logically, and I want it to not have and then it's like, but it did. So yeah, man, I don't know. Yeah, control what you can, cause most things you can't.
Starting point is 00:20:34 And so, you know, it's just fine. It's fine. It's fine. And you know, 30 years from now, you are going to be sitting next to the ocean and a bottle is gonna just float over to you and you're gonna pick it up and inside it's gonna be all of the pictures of your wedding.
Starting point is 00:20:55 Yes, and it will open up so many more questions and we'll have a mystery to solve for the rest of our lives. Yes. Oh, Sammy, bring us back. Okay, mine's pretty innocuous, which is that I went to the dentist for the first time in a while, and I just had a question.
Starting point is 00:21:17 I know we've talked about the dentist before, but is it normal for the dentist to just get more painful as you get older? Oh, this is a great question. I've experienced that. Because I remember it used to, I used to be totally fine with having my teeth cleaned and now it just feels more sensitive. And I feel like it makes sense that like enamel would slowly wear down and it would kind of
Starting point is 00:21:42 just get more painful. Because I was really surprised at how much I was like, this feels really bad. Like I hate this. And it wasn't necessarily like so painful that I had to stop. It was like tolerable. But I was like, I don't remember being like quite this uncomfortable. Like, I don't know, five years ago, even last time I went, I do remember it being like slightly more uncomfortable than usual. And I talked to them about it. I was like, I'm, you know, feeling a little more pain in my mouth. That's not really localized
Starting point is 00:22:15 to a specific spot. Right. Just feel like it's not like they were like, Oh yeah, it's because your teeth are falling apart. Like they I mean, they did x-rays, they did everything, and no cavities. So it was just a cleaning, and then I got a couple preventative fillings replaced. And yeah, it just really hurt. They were all very nice, and it was still a very pleasant experience. Literally every single person that worked there
Starting point is 00:22:41 asked me where I got my shoes, because your shoes are like up on the table and they're like, are those Doc Martens? It's very funny. So overall a nice experience, but it just made me feel a little scared of like, is the dentist going to be worse and worse for the rest of my life?
Starting point is 00:23:00 Oh God, I hope not. Yeah. I don't know. I hope not, but I'm inclined to think yes. I know. Like, I feel like the whole body is breaking down. Right. I just never had never thought about the teeth. There's no going back?
Starting point is 00:23:12 I never thought about the teeth aspect of it. Like, obviously I... Sure. I feel like it's also the gum aspect. Yeah. I mean, it makes a lot of sense. And obviously I've felt that to be true with other parts of my body that are just like kind of hurting more easily
Starting point is 00:23:26 than they used to and whatnot. But I just didn't know that this applied to dental health. And so any dentists out there, a lot of calls for help today. A lot of calls for help. If you can tell me any tips. She told me to use Sensodyne, which I already do. That's about the only tip I got.
Starting point is 00:23:49 I think I probably do need to use Sensodyne. I feel like my teeth have gotten more sensitive as I've gotten older. Yeah. Yeah. So. Help us. Help us.
Starting point is 00:23:59 Help us, we need your help. I know that we are here to offer something for you, but please give us something in return. Okay, should we do what we came here to do for our listeners? Should we? We should do the thing that we're supposedly offering up. Yes. It's only fair.
Starting point is 00:24:19 It's only fair. In an unfair world, it's only fair. So today we are going to be talking about Heretic. It is written and directed by Scott Beck and Brian Woods, starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East and Topher Grace in theaters now. Today I told Chole, I was like taking notes and I was like, and then we see Topher Grace and he was like, that was Topher Grace? I was like, what?
Starting point is 00:24:46 Yes. What do you mean? I didn't recognize- It was very obviously Topher Grace. I didn't recognize him at the very first shot of him, but then quickly did. And it is a little confusing why he's in it. He's old.
Starting point is 00:24:58 It is confusing why he's in it. That's true. It's essentially a cameo. Yeah. And he does look like, they make him look older, which I was like, huh. Anyway, but yes, Top cameo. Yeah. And he does look like, they make him look older, which I was like, oh, anyway, but yes, To Have Your Grace. Surprise. Surprise.
Starting point is 00:25:10 In theaters now, Henley, what do you know about this movie? You said you wanted to see it. Yeah, well, I'm really curious about how, so I think it's really interesting because we obviously, so many horror movies are about religion in some way, where it's either like, you know, the power of Christ competes, like defeats a demon,
Starting point is 00:25:32 which is kind of, I think in a way more rare than the other version, which is like, religious people are evil. Right. And this is the first religious horror movie that seems to be more about, like, breaking down or dismantling religious beliefs in a more clear way.
Starting point is 00:25:50 I've no... I think I've seen the trailer. I think I saw the trailer before another movie or something. I feel like I've seen this trailer against my will, but I can't remember why or in what context. And I don't really remember everything about it. But I just do know that the basic premise of the film. So I'm excited to see like what the message of the film seems to be.
Starting point is 00:26:11 I'm just really curious to know what that is. I do think that, yeah, you could handle it. And I do think you should watch it someday. Yeah, okay. I'd be curious to hear your and Tim's thoughts on what the takeaway is. Yeah. It's very densely talky, kind of nonstop philosophical talking about religion. Like not in a good way. No, no, I really enjoyed it. It's interesting. It's just, it's a lot to parse through, especially if you're not someone who is like typically thinking that
Starting point is 00:26:44 much about religion, you know? Like I would love to hear the perspective of somebody who is and has like dedicated their lives to thinking about religion. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. It has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 71 on Metacritic and a 7.3 on IMDB. The budget was somewhere around 10 million, a little less than 10 million.
Starting point is 00:27:07 And so far it has made 25.4 million. And then a little bit of trivia for us, I liked this, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, who play the two of the main characters, they're Mormon missionaries. They were both raised in the Mormon church and both left the Mormon church. And so they were able to like bring some of their own experiences to the characters. That's fascinating. That was very interesting. Very helpful. The role of Mr. Reed, the Hugh Grant character was written for Hugh Grant. It was specifically written with him in mind. Hell yeah. The writer directors were pulling every string that they had to be just like, please get this to Hugh Grant. We need it's like Hugh Grant or nothing.
Starting point is 00:27:57 Honestly, I understand. I mean, it's hard to think about anybody else in this role, but I actually don't know who else could pull it off quite the same. Like, yeah. It's a very Hugh Grant role. Yeah. And just a reminder to anyone who doesn't know, Hugh Grant's name is Hugh Mungo Grant.
Starting point is 00:28:18 Is there something else in there? Oh, is there another name? There's two middle names, I feel like. Hugh John Mungo, there's two middle names I feel like. Hugh John Mungo Grant, that seems like a- Hugh John Mungo Grant. Hugh John Mungo. Hugh John Mungo Grant. Hugh Mungo Grant.
Starting point is 00:28:36 And so yeah, Henley missed an opportunity to name her son Hugh Mungo Cox, which I'll never forget her for. Yeah, it's really unfortunate. I know, I know. I remind Silas every day that he should be grateful that I didn't name him Hugh Mungo Cox. Every day. He says, thank you, Mommy.
Starting point is 00:28:54 As you're tucking him in at night. And what are we grateful for, Silas? What are we grateful for? I didn't name you Hugh Mungo Cox. Yeah. And this is kind of funny. A24 hosted a special screening of this movie with Whitney Rose and Whitney Levitt. Whitney Rose is from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. She, I guess, I've not watched the show, but I guess she left the Mormon church during the filming of the show.
Starting point is 00:29:24 Wow. And Whitney Levitt is from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives who is still a very devout Mormon. And for this screening, it was two separate screening rooms. And there's a part in this movie where they have to like choose between two doors that say belief and disbelief. And so these doors led to the two separate screening rooms where disbelief went to Whitney Rose, who's like not Mormon anymore.
Starting point is 00:29:51 And belief went to Whitney Levitt, who is Mormon still. And I just think that's very fascinating that they, I don't know. Yeah, I'm really glad that you said that, because one of the questions I had about this movie was whether it was like engaging in the modern day Mormon trend of the being like real housewives of Mormonism on TV. I mean, that's a whole strand of Mormonism now. That's just like reality TV Mormonism. It doesn't really touch on that so much, but I like that they are touching on it in their marketing. Marketing.
Starting point is 00:30:25 And like, obviously I have, I don't have enough information to like have super clear opinion on this, but I feel like the movie is and isn't anti-Mormon. Like it like, I don't think it is overtly anti-Mormonism, but it also does call out some things that do make you go like, yeah, Mormonism is pretty silly. Like it's like doing both. It doesn't. Yeah. So that makes me very curious what each of those people thought about the message. They both had positive things to say apparently, but yeah, really. I would say it shows a positive view of these women who are Mormon. So there's that.
Starting point is 00:31:09 I don't know. Yeah, we'll tell you about it, but I basically, I just really want Tim to watch it and tell me what he thinks. Yeah. You too. Yeah, me too. Oh, Timothée.
Starting point is 00:31:19 Should we take a look at this trailer before we get into the recap? We should. Good. Let's watch it. That's like a humongo. Humongo. Oh, humongo. Hi, good afternoon, ma'am.
Starting point is 00:31:31 Are you interested in learning about our Savior Jesus Christ? Hi. Good afternoon. Hi, are you a... My name is Sister Barnes and... Oh my gosh. Sister Barnes and oh my gosh. Are you interested in learning more about the Church of Jesus Christ? Come on in.
Starting point is 00:31:51 We can't come inside unless another woman is present. My wife is home, does that come? Great. You like pie? Yeah. My wife has pie in the oven. I could tell that you are a very spiritually curious person. I think it is good to be religious, to find your faith in a doctrine you actually believe.
Starting point is 00:32:08 Well our work here is done. I will go and check on the pie. Oh no! Oh No You think through this crazy You crazy? We just need to go home. I won't keep you if you wish to leave. But I want you to choose which door to go through based on your faith. What does this have to do with us leaving?
Starting point is 00:32:58 Everything. I think that we're being studied. It will make your hearts beat faster. It may even make you want to die. Do not be afraid. You will witness a miracle. Oh my God, I have not seen that trailer. That looks really fucking spooky. Are they trying to ruin scented candles? Don't ruin a scented candle for me. How dare you? How dare you? It's one of the only things I have left. I'll say this, Hen. I watched the movie and you know that I currently have a scented candle for me. How dare you, how dare you? It's one of the only things I have left. I'll say this, and I watched the movie and you know that I currently have a scented candle going.
Starting point is 00:34:09 So I think you're safe. Okay. Yeah, you're okay. You're good. Whoa, that looks really good. It didn't even ruin Hugh Grant for me. Like if anything, I left the movie being like, God damn, I love Hugh Grant.
Starting point is 00:34:21 Wow. He's so good. I really do. He's so good. I love to just watch, I just love to good. I really do. He's so good. I love to just watch, I just love to watch an actor go to work, you know? Mm-hmm. He's going to work. He even had that cute, he had a moment of a cute little grin.
Starting point is 00:34:33 He's very charming. A little flash, a little flash of his... That's the whole thing. That's how we freaking get ya. He's so charming. Oh, man. Wow. I'm so excited.
Starting point is 00:34:43 I have no idea what to expect. I just like don't know what exactly is going to happen. I'm so excited. I have no idea what to expect. I just like don't know what exactly is going to happen. I'm curious. In seeing that trailer had the initial reaction of like, oh, well, they just showed the whole movie in the trailer and they did it. Okay. They did. Okay, good.
Starting point is 00:35:00 They did it. I like to hear that. They did show more than I maybe thought they would have, but they didn't show the whole movie for sure. There's some degree of it that I could never see them spoiling in a trailer. Yeah. I would say that's a good trailer.
Starting point is 00:35:12 I'm going to say that's a good trailer. But I also will say, and sorry, because anybody who just on our Patreon who watched it before knowing anything about the movie, I don't think I'd ever seen a trailer. I think I was just like, oh, hair tick. It scared me with Hugh Grant. And my coworker saw it ever seen a trailer. I think I was just like, oh, here take a scary movie with you, Grant. And my coworker saw it and said that she thought
Starting point is 00:35:27 I could handle it. And I've been like emotionally dead for 10 days and was like, I'll see a scary movie. Right, maybe it'll bring me back to life. What, wake me up. And I will say it's really not that scary. Like there's some upsetting moments, but this always happens to me when I manage
Starting point is 00:35:44 to see a scary movie and I don't get that scared, I'm always like, what a let down. I was really ready to get fucking scared, even though if it had been scary, I would have been miserable. Cause yeah, it's really, it's like. Is it R?
Starting point is 00:35:55 Probably. I think so. There's some upsetting stuff that I feel like would warrant an R rating, but it wasn't that scary. But it almost feels like a play. Like it's essentially just them three talking for the whole movie. Talkie, talkie, talkie.
Starting point is 00:36:09 In a way that's, yeah, really impressive. Really impressive script, because it's almost two hours long. And to be able to be engaging with just three characters talking for the most part. Yeah. Pretty impressive. A lot of good talking and, like, just good ambiance. Like, the set design is really. Pretty impressive. A lot of good talking and just good ambiance.
Starting point is 00:36:25 Like the set design is really, really cool. And great performances. Yeah, great performances and good filmmaking. I thought there were some really interesting shots. Are these the guys who, did they write A Quiet Place? Yes. Is that what they did? Oh, OK.
Starting point is 00:36:39 So, yeah. OK. Yeah, I mean, I feel like if you're ready, honey, we can just freaking get into it. Please, I'm ready. I was born ready. Oh my God. I can't fucking wait.
Starting point is 00:36:51 This is, I'm interested in this. This is not terrifying three. Yeah. I am seated. Yep. Yes. And listening. Let's humongo.
Starting point is 00:37:02 Let's humongo. Whoa. The crowd goes wild. Ooh, I'm so excited to talk to you guys about our next sponsor, Quince. Quince sells high quality essentials for a fraction of the price. My favorite two things that I have from them
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Starting point is 00:38:45 Can you name every single subscription you have? I definitely can't name all of mine and I'm not alone. I just learned that over 74% of people have subscriptions that they've forgotten about. Most Americans think they spend about $62 a month on subscriptions, but the real number is closer to $300 a month. That's a lot of money.
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Starting point is 00:39:46 cancelled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's features. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash too scary. That's rocketmoney.com slash too scary. rocketmoney.com slash too scary rocketmoney.com slash too scary. So we begin with two young women sitting on a park bench. This is sister Barnes and sister Paxton. Sister Barnes is Sophie Thatcher from Yellow Jackets. Sister Paxton is Chloe East. I had not seen her in anything before. And they're talking about porn. Sister Paxton is Chloe East. I had not seen her in anything before. And they're talking about porn. Sister Paxton is talking about a porn video that she's watched where she said she sees the moment that a woman acting in it, that her soul leaves her body. And she's saying
Starting point is 00:40:38 how that's how she like knows God is real by this porn that she watched. And Sister Barnes is looking a little confused by this and it's like, do you watch a lot of porn? And she's like, no, no, oh my God, no, no, just this one. I haven't like- She goes, oh no, I'm not a porn watcher. But we're just getting a little sense of their friendship and dynamic. They are partner missionaries, got their little name tags on and they get their bikes and they're walking to their final stop of the day. There's talk of maybe this will be the day that Sister Paxton converts her first person. She's really wanting to have a like successful stop. Sister Barnes has successfully brought seven or eight people into the church. And so Sister Paxton is just really hungry for a win here.
Starting point is 00:41:33 And yeah, the vibe is very like Sister Barnes is she's like the cool girl. Like she's like she's got like dark hair and she's fucking gorgeous. And she's like calm and cool. And Sister Paxton is like a little dorkier and she's fucking gorgeous and she's like calm and cool. And sister Paxton is like a little dorkier and she's got glasses and she's got like, she's very like high energy, like, you know, more of like the dorky missionary girl you would expect. It's a, it's a very fun dynamic. Yeah. But it's very clear that they like really care about each other. So they're walking
Starting point is 00:42:01 through town with their bikes when some of the local teenagers, I guess, in town ask if they can take a photo with them. And they say yes. Well, and they sort of, it's just, sister Baxter and like sees these teens hanging out in the street and like dancing and she's like, Oh, I love them already. Like she's just like a positive little person who just believes in people. And she's like, Oh, these girls are so cool. Yeah. And then they asked her for a picture. And then right as they're taking the picture, they pants Sister Paxton to show her magic underwear, which I'm not super familiar with Mormonism, but I guess you wear this specific
Starting point is 00:42:40 type of underwear in this religion that look like shorts, essentially big, like longer white shorts, I'm assuming for some sort of like purity reasons. And obviously this is humiliating for sister Paxton. She's like quietly crying as they continue walking towards their destination, wiping noise. It's the scariest part of the movie. It's very sad. Her crying. Just being bullied like that. It's just like she didn't do anything to them. It's just so cruel.
Starting point is 00:43:14 It's very cruel and they walk up this big hill towards this last stop and they stop to take a break at one point and Sister Paxton says, I think we're like a joke to people. That South Park musical really made a lot of fun of us. And Sister Barnes is again more chill and kind of confident. And she says, I listened to a couple of songs. They're actually pretty funny and who cares what other people say?
Starting point is 00:43:40 Like I know you're awesome. And gives her a little pep talk that cheers her back up. And so sister Paxton smiles again. They're like, Okay, now let's go get you your first convert. And they look at their phone, they have a list of the addresses of the people they're going to visit. And the last one on the list is Mr. Reed. Also where are we? Apparently in Colorado, Boulder, I think. Okay. I assumed Utah, but apparently there's like a pamphlet that says something about being in Colorado.
Starting point is 00:44:11 Yeah. Okay. But it's cold, cold and mountainy. Cold and it starts to rain as they're making their way up this mountain to this house that's a little isolated farther away from the main downtown stretch. And they lock up their bikes at the gate in front of the house and walk up. They're starting to get wet. They don't have an umbrella or anything, so they're shivering and cold a little bit. Like, let's just get this over with. Knock on the door. We hear some shuffling happening inside, taking a pretty long time to answer this door.
Starting point is 00:44:47 I think they knock again. And finally, Mr. Reed answers. This is, of course, Hugh Grant in a cozy little sweater and his glasses. His inside his home looks very nice, very warmly lit. And he like welcomes them, says, hello, they confirm that he requested to get more information about the Church of Latter-day Saints. And he's saying, yes, yes, I do want to hear more. They give him a pamphlet. He says he's already got one, but you can never have too many. So he takes it and obviously notices that they are getting soaked and so invites them inside. And they let him know that they can't come inside unless a woman is present. And he says that his wife is inside baking a pie and they're, phew, okay, great. Then yes, we can come on in. And he brings them in. Already we know this is not good.
Starting point is 00:45:54 Like it's not, the vibe is already stressful. But they go inside and kind of look around the walls at this sitting room area, again, very like nicely decorated and seems very homey and welcoming. There's a little like hand-stitched thing on the wall saying bless this mess, some photos of him with a dog, notably no photos of a wife. But I also love when, I feel like Hugh Grant's movies
Starting point is 00:46:21 in particular do this a lot where it's like, it's just an old like glamor photo of Hugh Grant with a dog, like clearly from some magazine spread that he did when he was like in his thirties, which they have a lot of those in Paddington Do The Best Movie of All Time, where there's like a bunch of photos of Hugh Grant
Starting point is 00:46:36 throughout the years. And I just, I always enjoy it. Yes. That's in two weeks notice too. That's so weird that they've literally, the opening credits are just photos of you Grant. Maybe that's in his contract of like, there has to be. You need photos of me.
Starting point is 00:46:48 There has to be younger photos of me with my dog. People have to know how hot I've been. People have to know if they're gonna watch this movie. He asks if he can take their coats. They say yes, but remind him again, they're like, we'll need your wife to be in the room with us when we talk. It's just the rules for safety and that's the rules of the church.
Starting point is 00:47:09 And he's like, of course, of course. And he says, but there is metal in the walls and ceiling. Are you OK with that? And they say, yeah, yeah, that's no problem. I immediately was like, what the fuck? But it's played off very normally. Did you notice that line, Emily? Yes, oh, I definitely noticed it.
Starting point is 00:47:27 I think, I feel like it was, so there were a lot of moments at the top and kind of throughout, but that like really were reminding me of, speak no evil. Yes. Just like throwing things out there to someone that in a normal power dynamic or situation
Starting point is 00:47:44 where everybody was on equal footing, the person might react by being like, what's that now? But when you're in like a position of wanting to appease this person, you'd say like, yeah, of course. They didn't act too uncomfortable, but yeah, it flags me as like a thing of like, I guess what else would they say in that moment,
Starting point is 00:48:00 but it's a weird thing to say. Yeah. Is there something with Mormonism and metal where they're not supposed to be like? I think it is kind of framed that way of like, it's in the moment of them saying a few of the rules that they have to stick to. And so he kind of slips it in like, oh, is this okay?
Starting point is 00:48:17 And they're like, oh yeah, that like, there's no rule against that type of thing. And so it's, it feels somewhat offhand, but it also for me was like, what's that now? Which again, maybe because it's a horror movie. And I mean, it does become a thing. And I feel like too, it's this whole, I mean, the first half of the movie really
Starting point is 00:48:37 is very much colored by Sister Paxton needing this whim. So like anything that might seem like they should be like, actually this isn't worth it. It's like, I have, this is our last stop. Like I gotta get this guy. And Sister Barnes is like sort of letting her take the lead and wanting this for her. But yeah, we're getting moments of like,
Starting point is 00:49:04 But he takes their coats from them, goes into through a door to another part of the house, leaving them in the sitting room for a moment. Sister Barnes notices a butterfly flying around inside the room. He comes back with a tray with some drinks on it and a candle and sets it all out in front of them and offers them to take a seat on the couch. They again are asking like, Oh, is your wife coming out? He says, yes, she'll be out. She's being a little shy right now finishing up the pie, but she's coming out soon. And they're like, okay, we might as well just like get into what we are here to talk about.
Starting point is 00:49:46 Sister Paxton is saying, you know, if you look in the pamphlet, that will give you the information about this and blah, blah, blah. And he says something like, yeah, I think, you know, being religious, finding the religion that's right for you is so important. And they're like, oh, great, like our work here is done. They're talking a little bit about how religion isn't at the center of culture anymore. Sister Paxton is basically saying, oh, it's such a relief to hear you say that you have this interest in religion because I feel like that's fading these days. He asks them where they're from. Sister Paxton says she's from Ogden, Utah. Sister Barnes says
Starting point is 00:50:26 she is from Salt Lake City, but originally Philadelphia, and that her mom converted to the Mormon church after her dad died. And as she's saying this, Mr. Reed notices a scar on her upper arm and just kind of clocks that. They say that, you know, the pie smells so good. And he laughs and he's like, can you guess what kind of pie it is? And Sister Paxton sniffs the air and she's like, blueberry. He's like, yeah, that's right. It's my wife's favorite. She loves blueberry pie.
Starting point is 00:51:01 And then he says, so how did your dad die? And she's understandably like, kind of shocked by the question and says really, under her breath, Lou Gehrig's disease. And he quote unquote, miss hears her and says blueberry disease, that's wonderful and is laughing and she's quiet for a second. Sister Pax and I think cuts in and says, blueberry disease, that's wonderful and is laughing and she's quiet for a second. Sister Paxon, I think cuts in and says, no, she said Lou Gehrig's disease. He's like, oh, oh my God, I'm so sorry. That's awful. I thought you were making a joke about the pie. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry to hear that. And it's obviously an uncomfortable moment that I'm a little suspicious of that it's, it's, we're in that familiar territory of like someone just trying to push boundaries
Starting point is 00:51:54 and buttons and see how uncomfortable you will let them make you. Yep. Yep. Yep. After this moment, he asks her if her dad has ever tried to communicate with her from the other side, which she says, no, he hasn't. And Sister Paxton says if she dies, she wants to come back as a butterfly. And that's how she would communicate with the people she loves, is she would land directly on their fingers so that they would know it was her. And she'd just seen a butterfly flying around. Yeah, the butterfly stuff is gonna come back. Well, Sister Barnes saw the butterfly.
Starting point is 00:52:33 I don't know if Sister Paxton did, but Sister Paxton is our sweeter, more innocent, dorkier. She's trying to change the subject, lighten the mood a little bit. Sister Barnes even says, that's very nice. That you would want to do that. Like they're just. Yeah. And so he goes into a little cabinet
Starting point is 00:52:55 and pulls out his book of Mormon, which is very clearly well read, annotated. There's post-its, a lot of notes in it. It's clear that he has read this book cover to cover, probably more than once. And they're like, oh my God, whoa, you should be, that's a sister Paxton that's saying this, like, you should be teaching us about the Book of Mormon. It's clear that you've, like, I really admire this dedication that you have. And he says, can I ask you guys an uncomfortable question?
Starting point is 00:53:27 Here we go. Here we go. I think some of the most frustrating parts is that it's like everything is done in a way that they end up like allowing it explicitly giving permission and like asking him to do the things he's doing. So- Oh, I hate that. I hate that. Sister Barnes is a little more like,
Starting point is 00:53:51 well, you know, we're not gonna know if it'll make us uncomfortable unless you tell us. Whereas Sister Paxton's like, if we leave, I'm gonna be wondering. So you should, yeah, just ask us. And he says, what are your thoughts on polygamy? And they are taken aback by the question. He says having multiple wives, like what are I know that that was something that was practiced in Mormonism. And then after a certain amount of time, it became not practiced
Starting point is 00:54:22 anymore. And this is where like the specifics I can't totally remember. But he says that like, Joseph Smith had a revelation that said men should have multiple wives. And then when the church deemed it like not prudent anymore, like out of public favor, all of a sudden, the head of the Mormon church had another revelation from God that that we don't need to do that anymore. And like, doesn't it seem suspicious that they just all of a sudden decided? Yeah. Basically, yeah. How convenient and doesn't that sort of bump with you as people who believe women who like believe in this religion?
Starting point is 00:54:54 Mm hmm. Like, isn't that kind of practice of misogyny giving you pause? And in these moments where there he's like actively challenging them is when Sister Barnes steps in more because she's clearly a little more confident whereas Sister Paxton is a little more shakeable. Yeah, Sister Paxton, I feel like says something. She's like, yeah, it's not for me. She's like.
Starting point is 00:55:18 To each his own, to each his own. Yeah. It's a little sketch for sure. She's so cute. She's great.. She is great. I really loved her. Yeah, she's great. But Sister Barnes steps in and says, you know, it helped us grow our community at a time
Starting point is 00:55:32 when we needed that and just has a little bit more of an explanation for it. But clearly he's ruffling their feathers and he says, you know, this is the thing though with religions is like I've been in search of the one true religion. Like there's a lot out there and they all claim to be the one, but none of them really hold up when you look under a microscope at them. And if, and if divine messaging is coming from God through man, and man is fallible and flawed and bad, then how can we ever trust that it's actually divine intervention or is it just manipulative men
Starting point is 00:56:15 doing what they wanna do? And Sister Jackson says, well, you know it's true because of how it makes you feel. That's what belief is, however it makes you feel. Which I actually thought was a very beautiful response to that, it's true because of how it makes you feel. Like that's what belief is, like however it makes you feel. Which I actually thought was like a very beautiful response to that. It's true. It's like, I don't know, because I believe it
Starting point is 00:56:31 and it makes me feel good and true. Which is not without its own problems, but I thought a good response. Right. And he says, I've spent all this time searching and unfortunately I did find the one true religion. And they are getting freaked out more and more freaked out with every passing second. At one point, the lights turn off.
Starting point is 00:56:59 Yeah, they're on a timer and he says, you know, oh yeah, that's just normal. The house goes and turns the timer back on. And at this point they say, can we please meet your wife now? And he says, of course, I'll go get her. And he leaves through the same door he went out earlier and leaves it open. And it's just a really dark hallway. You can't see anything through it. And as he's gone, Sister Barnes has a moment of realizing that the smell of the blueberry pie is coming from a blueberry pie scented candle on the table.
Starting point is 00:57:45 Oh, it's like the best twist in modern memory. And yeah, confirming their biggest fears that there is no wife probably. And they get up and go to the door to, well, I think before they even try the door, they're like, shoot, they never sweared. There's no swearing in this movie. They're like, our bikes are locked.
Starting point is 00:58:11 There's a moment I feel like he tells them like, actually my wife isn't, you need to like come down the hallway basically to come meet my wife. And they go like, oh, oh, the church is calling us. Our elder is calling us. We'll be down in a moment. We just need to take this phone call.
Starting point is 00:58:28 And so they pretend that they're answering a phone call. Right, right, right. That's gonna tell them, oh, we actually need to go back to the church. He's like, oh, I'll leave you two out. I'll leave you to take your phone call. And he goes down the dark, scary hallway. And that's when they're like, okay, we just need to leave.
Starting point is 00:58:44 Yeah, get the fuck out. And sister Barnes realizes that the key to the their bike lock is in her coat pocket, which he has in the other room. And they're deliberating. It's a four mile walk. It's like snowing now. And they're just in shirts and skirts. And but they both are like, I don't care. Like let's do it. We just need to leave. And so they- A great moment. You love to see it. I really did love it. I was like, Oh my God, amazing. But of course they reach for the door handle and it is locked. They can't open it. They look, there's just one small round
Starting point is 00:59:22 window in the room. They are trying to see if they can fit through it, but it looks too small and it's just not gonna work. They check their phone, no signal, cause remember there's metal in those walls. They think it's cause of the storm though. They're like, oh, the call won't go out because of the storm. Yeah. Oh, okay.
Starting point is 00:59:43 So they debate for a while and they really try to get out of the house without going down this hallway. But eventually they're like, okay, we need him to let us out. So we have to act like everything's fine. And we go down, they go down the hallway, again, very dark and spooky. The second they walk into the hallway, there is the silhouette of a man just standing at the end of the hallway that looks a little different from Mr. Reed. As they get closer, they see it's a statue of some sort of saint or something, but very spooky. Then they enter into the next room of this very maze like house. Like it's not, this is just not laid out the way a normal house is. Like you walk into the main room and then there's one dark, scary hallway that opens into a study type room with all like books and again, like a very beautifully decorated room. But
Starting point is 01:00:47 he's in this room and they tell him, we got a call from the church and unfortunately they need us back there. And so if you could just, like this has been so wonderful, you've been so generous with your time, but we need to leave. And he like, oh, shoot, we were just getting started. But if you want to leave, then you can leave. Of course, your coats are right over there. They see the coats hanging on the back of a little sofa and go to grab them as he's shuffling around the room, busying himself with stuff. And Sister Barnes reaches in her coat pocket to feel for the bike lock key and it's not there. And she silently like flips the pockets inside out to show Sister Paxton that they're not there. Sister Paxton
Starting point is 01:01:37 reaches into her coat pocket and it's in there. And they share a look of confusion. Why did he swap what coat pocket it was in? And they're like, okay, Mr. Reed, we just actually need your help to get out the front door. And he's like, oh, that door's not gonna open again. And they're like, what? He's like, it's on a timer and we just lost track of time. We were having such a good time talking. I didn't think to set the timer differently. And so yeah, that door is not going to open
Starting point is 01:02:10 again until morning. So you'll have to go out the back door, which you're totally welcome to do at any time. Oh my God. No, this is also giving funny games. Afterwards, Joel was like, I'm surprised you liked it because, or was it you that was like, it's very like funny games vibes, but I really think it's just cause it was Hugh Grant. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:02:30 I was like, yeah, I mean, I'm into it. I also do think to your point, Sammy, that I think those kinds of movies, even though I do believe I would fucking hate funny games, even if I saw it, I do feel like sometimes that's harder to hear than watch. Right, yeah. The holidays are coming up. You're probably going to be spending some time with loved ones that you
Starting point is 01:02:52 don't see all the time. You'll be hearing stories, some that you've never heard before, and probably some that you've heard way too many times. But have you ever wanted to collect those stories, not just for you, but for your entire family and even for future generations. It can seem daunting to do that, to write an entire book, but Storyworth makes it fun and easy. Here's how it works. Each week Storyworth will email your loved one a question that you get to help pick. Questions like what's the bravest thing you've ever done? What's the farthest you've ever traveled? Lots of interesting questions that you may not have
Starting point is 01:03:30 thought to ask. After a year of answering questions, Storyworth is going to compile those stories into a beautiful keepsake hardcover book that you'll be able to share and revisit for generations to come. I think this is so cool. My family is not great at documenting the time we spend together. We have some photo albums and things like that, but this is gonna be perfect to keep in that same collection so that when you're reminiscing and having those cherished moments,
Starting point is 01:04:04 this will be alongside all those other beautiful memories So help your family members share and capture their stories this holiday season with story worth go to story worth Dot-com slash to scary today and save ten dollars on your first purchase. That's St. Ory w o r th dot-com slash too scary to save ten dollars on your first purchase. Story worth dot com slash too scary. It's holiday party season. We're getting together with friends. We're celebrating holidays.
Starting point is 01:04:40 We're staying in. We're having cozy little house parties and that means we need to bring a bottle of wine to those parties. And it can be very overwhelming trying to decide what the right bottle of wine is to bring, what's everyone going to like. Worry no more because this podcast is sponsored by Naked Wines. Naked Wines is a subscription service that directly connects you to the world's finest independent winemakers.
Starting point is 01:05:03 So you can get award-winning wine delivered straight to your door with our code too scary. You can get six bottles for just 39.99. I just had a really delicious sparkling white through naked wines. It was a Chardonnay grape. It was so lovely. It'd be perfect to celebrate with perfect to bring to any occasion. I also love that naked wines has you fill out a little quiz when you sign up that you
Starting point is 01:05:27 tell them all those descriptors of wines that you like, things that you don't like, what you gravitate towards so they can make sure that your box is filled with wine that you are definitely going to enjoy. Now is the time to join the Naked Wines community. Head to nakedwines.com slash toos and put in our code to scary for both the code and password for six bottles of wine for just 39.99 with shipping included. That's nakedwines.com slash to scary and code to scary for six bottles of wine for 39.99. So they're like, Oh, we'd really like to go out the front door.
Starting point is 01:06:05 We came in that way. If you could just unlock it. He's like, again, I told you that I can't do that. But you saw my house when you came up. You saw it's pretty small little house. So obviously these back doors, there's two doors in this study. And he's like, you'll just choose which one of these to go out. And obviously, you'll be right outside right there because it's a small house.
Starting point is 01:06:25 So how big could it be? How far could it go? And he's like, and I feel like I've been trying really hard not to pressure you. So you don't need to lie to me about taking a phone call. I knew he was gonna use this. He's gonna like hang it over their heads that they lied
Starting point is 01:06:42 and be like, you're not really, you're bad, because you lied to me. Yeah, and he's like, I told you right when you came in about the metal in the walls, which I know for a fact you didn't take a call because nobody can take calls in here. And they ask him if they can use his phone. He says, I don't have a phone. There's no phone in here. And poor Sister Paxton is like, can
Starting point is 01:07:06 we please meet your wife now? Not to be a total freak, but can we please meet your wife now? Oh, poor Paxton. And he says, I'm going to ask you a question and I'm not, I swear I'm not being silly. Do you still believe that I have a wife? And he says, you know, despite all the evidence to the contrary, do you really still believe that I have a wife? And how is that different from believing in God? Because someone told you at an impressionable age that God was real and throughout your whole lives despite seeing so much evidence to the contrary,
Starting point is 01:07:46 you've continued to believe that it is true. And seeing your dad's body stop working, like that must have really tested your belief and yet you still believe in God. And so just like, do you guys still believe I have a wife? And at some point they notice a letter opener in this room. They're kind of scanning the room for any, well, other exits, but they see a potential weapon. So it's getting to that phase, that stage of like, okay, we're in trouble here, obviously. And he's like, you know, you can leave anytime. Like I said, you just choose which door. And he writes like, you know, you can leave anytime. Like I said, you just choose which door. And he writes on one of the doors, belief,
Starting point is 01:08:31 and on one of the doors, disbelief. And they say like, does it matter which one we choose? He's like, of course it matters. You need to think really, really hard about which one you're gonna choose. And they're like, he's like, do you want me to help you choose? They say, yes. No.
Starting point is 01:08:49 Yeah, he says, I think Sarah, Sister Paxton says, Sarah Paxton says, should we have a preference of which door? And he's like, you're asking exactly the right question. Yes, you should have a preference. And yet, do you want me to help you figure it out? They say yes, and he- He puts on a record.
Starting point is 01:09:09 Puts on a record and pulls out the game Monopoly. Okay. And says, have you guys played this game? Of course you have, like everybody has, but have you played this game? And it's called, I think, the Landlord's Game. He pulls out another version, an older version of Monopoly and explains all in like detailed history about how this was the original version. And then they sold it and this person like lost credit and they rebranded it. And then he starts the song over that he was playing on the record player.
Starting point is 01:09:41 He's like, have you guys heard this song before? And they're like, you just, you just played it. And he's like, no, I mean, before that, they're like, no. And he's like, I bet you have, but we'll come back to that. And then he's like, goes back to the Monopoly games and he asks them, you're monotheistic, right? You believe in one God. And they say yes. And he says, there's three monotheistic religions. He pulls out this tapestry that has the symbols for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He says, Judaism is the original,
Starting point is 01:10:15 AKA the landlord's game. Christianity is the next and most popular version, AKA original monopoly. Yeah, then he gives it like the next and most popular version, AKA original Monopoly. Yeah, then he gives it like the next iteration. The like, yeah, newer iteration, more popular. And then Islam is, I can't remember what he says for the game, it's like a... Like a spin-off, basically.
Starting point is 01:10:39 I think he put, and he puts down a version of like modern Monopoly that comes with like an online gaming company, like the newest modern spin-off or something. Which this part was really fascinating to me because I was like, wow, when you put it in terms of like Islam being modern compared to Judaism and Christianity, I was just like, whoa.
Starting point is 01:10:57 Yeah. It was fascinating. So he's threading all these things together and he's saying, I'm trying to teach you about iterations because this is going to be very important. Oh, and he's stacking the like holy texts next to each thing. So he's kind of making this chart with like the Torah next to the landlord's game and then the Bible and then pulls out the Book of Mormon and lays it on top of Christianity. And it's like 800 years later, here's the spin-off version. And it's like this goofy version of Monopoly. It's like Bob Ross.
Starting point is 01:11:28 He's like the quirky spin-off is Book of Mormon and it's, or yeah, Mormonism. And he goes back to the song that's playing and he's like, you guys said you hadn't heard this song before, but this song, I can't remember. All right, did I write it down? All I need is remember, did I write it down? All I need is the air that I breathe in to love you.
Starting point is 01:11:50 It's like a song from, I don't know, the 70s probably. I did write about it, the air that I breathe by the Hollies. And they're like, we haven't heard this. And he says, well, the Hollies sued Radiohead later because Creep basically. It's like the same melody and rhythm of this song. And he starts singing.
Starting point is 01:12:07 He's like, I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I think they play it in the trailer. Yeah. And then he says how, and then after that, Lana Del Rey was sued by Radiohead for her song Get Free for copying Creep. And so he's like, again, this iterations and I'm just wanting to drive this point home because I'm going to tell you something that
Starting point is 01:12:32 is going to be really upsetting. And it might, it might make you want to die. And he does this little like, Ooh, face like, ooh, face, like, sorry. And he basically goes into this long talk about all the iterations of the same things and all of the religious texts and how they're all basically copying each other and how there are elements of the Bible that you can find repeated before the Bible was written like in ancient Egypt and Krishna and all of these things. There's like a savior born to a virgin, 12 prophets or whatever. And it's just basically saying it's just iterated over and over and over. He says at one point, and it just doesn't make any sense to me, I can't understand how everyone can think that theirs is the one when they all have these elements of the same and why some are
Starting point is 01:13:38 more popular than others. Why does Judaism only account for 0.2% of all of religions? Because Why does Judaism only account for 0.2% of all of religions? Because that's the original. Shouldn't it be the most popular? And he's just going on and on and on about all, he's got this whole room of pictures on the wall that he's pointing to as a little like conspiracy theory rooms. The girls are like, Oh my God, this guy. They're like, we get it. Just being yeah, like mansplained religion. Well, and he says that Christianity is the most popular because of missionaries, because of people like you. Yeah, he's like, Judaism doesn't have sales people.
Starting point is 01:14:13 But when you come down to it, it's like all the same empty capitalist bullshit, like the same as these monopoly games. And he says that it's also the same story in Star Wars episode one. And like, can you imagine further in the future if like, if there are people worshipping Jar Jar Binks as like one of the prophets? And then he does a Jar Jar Binks impression, which is just, I don't know, important to note. I wasn't expecting a Hugh Grant Jar Jar Binks impression in this.
Starting point is 01:14:43 And to sum it up, he basically says, if there is a God who watches while we masturbate and only helps us when we beg him and hates gay people, then that's terrifying. And if we're all ants on a rock floating through space with no purpose, that's terrifying. So choose belief or disbelief. And Sister Paxton pretty quickly walks to the disbelief door because she thinks that that's what he wants. Like he's just laid
Starting point is 01:15:17 out all this argument for why their religious beliefs are flawed and questionable. And so she's assuming that's what he wants. And he's like, she's like, well, you've brought up a lot of really interesting points, Mr. Reed, a lot to think about. Like, we'll be exiting through the disbelief door. Thank you. And Sister Barnes, once again, stands up and challenges him and says, you know what? No, like, you've said your argument, but it's been pretty one sided. Like she just kind of starts providing alternate facts to consider.
Starting point is 01:15:57 Like, like you mentioned how Judaism has a lower percentage of people practicing without mentioning the Holocaust. There was religious persecution that they had to endure. And you talk about all these similarities between these other things without mentioning the differences, like Horace or whatever, this Egyptian one, has a bird head. They're not entirely the same.
Starting point is 01:16:23 There's a lot of differences as well. She's like, I think whatever we do, I think he's studying us. He's not actually trying to teach us anything. He's just seeing how we react. So Sister Paxton, do you still believe in God? And Sister Paxton says, yes. And she's like, okay, me too. So let's be honest about it and we can exit through the belief door. At one point a little bit earlier before this big old explanation, when he's like, you're free to leave
Starting point is 01:16:52 through these back doors anytime you want. Sister Barnes does open the doors and like look and sees that through each door is a really dark staircase that leads down. Oh, God damn it. And he goes, well, didn't you see my house at the top of a hill? Obviously you have to go down the stairs and then there'll be the exit, obviously. So she has already suspected that like neither door is good.
Starting point is 01:17:17 And so she's like, we just need to stick to our beliefs and what we think is true. Did he make them answer whether they think Mormonism is the only true religion? Did they have to answer that? I don't think so. No, but he got enough information about like that they do believe in it clearly. Yeah. So.
Starting point is 01:17:36 You would assume that that means they don't believe in the other ones. Yes, I think so. Okay. That's like a premise that is just not true, at least for Tim. Oh, that he's like, there is only one. Right. Like for a lot of people practicing religion today, I don't think they would say like...
Starting point is 01:17:54 It's just like everyone's version of it. Yeah. Exactly. And it doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. It's like different languages saying the same thing. Right. Which I do feel like Sister Burns is kind of letting on in her response of like, yeah, there's similarities here,
Starting point is 01:18:09 but there's also reason why you would believe one over the other and like there's differences and one speaks to you. And so I think without saying it directly, I think she kind of is like, yeah, I get it. And also like there's more to religion than just facts on a sheet of paper that you're reciting. Right, right, right. Okay. Interesting. Okay. So now they're going to go down these
Starting point is 01:18:31 dark steps into the belief. Dark, dark steps. He closes the door behind them. They use a cell phone light to light their way and clear. They their going down into some sort of horrible dungeon. God damn it. Cut to the church, the Mormon church closing up for the night. It's nighttime now and we see Elder Kennedy, Topher Grace. Topher Grace. He was 46. I just looked it up older than I thought. Wow. And he's looking at some chore sheet that normally Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes sign each night at exactly 5 PM to show that they've cleaned the bathroom or whatever. And it hasn't been signed that night. And so he notices that something might be amiss, that they have not come back from their mission for the day.
Starting point is 01:19:26 Nicole Sarris Which is some of the women repeat to him at one point is like, you know, the elders going to come looking for us, like they know where we've gone and he's going to ask about us. So really should be getting back. People are going to save us. Nicole Sarris getting back, people are gonna save us." And he's like, uh-huh, mm-hmm. No. So back to them now at the bottom of this like medieval looking dungeon, it's like all stone walls. There's no other- The round scary room.
Starting point is 01:19:55 There's no other exit, but we do see the other door also led down there, so it wouldn't have mattered which door they chose. Also, I wonder if any of this is inspired by the crazy Zillow listings that honestly are mostly in Utah of like crazy fucking Mormon houses where it's like- I wanna see some of those.
Starting point is 01:20:12 Clearly polygamists have lived here. Oh, I wanna see. And it's like a kitchen with like 10 stoves. Oh my God. And like five refrigerators. And you're like, this is someone's private home. Whoa. Not okay. So they're like, this is someone's private home. Whoa. Not okay.
Starting point is 01:20:26 So they're trying to find a way out. There is a window at the top, but it's 20 or 30 feet up and they're trying to climb up to it. But there's just one table and chair in the center of the room. They try to stack it up, but it's not high enough. And Sister Barnes is trying to climb on some wooden beams and pulls one out and it falls to the ground and it's just like one wood plank with three nails sticking out of it that
Starting point is 01:20:52 they like lay against the wall because they hear the voice of Mr. Reed coming through a little speaker like a little old school. Like one of those like things at the science museum that you can be on opposite sides of the museum and speak into it and somebody can hear it. It's like, it seems like one of those where he's like, it's directly, the purpose is to speak into the basement dungeon. And actually that might not be happening yet.
Starting point is 01:21:16 They might just like hear somebody coming and they turn and they look and they see a light and someone shuffling towards them covered in a, what do you call those? Nasty, like a shroud, like a veil over the, yeah. But it's like gray, gauzy, nasty shroud. They are nervously saying, Mr. Reed, is that you? No, no, no, no, no? It doesn't seem like Mr. Reed.
Starting point is 01:21:48 And then we get a close look at the hand of this person and it is, it's like a witchy hand essentially. It's a woman's hand and it looks like old and she is holding a blueberry pie and she's- The wife. I know, that was my first pie and she's the wife. I know that was my first thought. He has a wife. I was like, Oh my God.
Starting point is 01:22:09 It's all going to be fine you guys. I think even then they go like Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed. They're like, what? And she sets the pie down on the table and sits at the chair in front of it. And now his voice comes through that speaker and is basically saying, I wanted to make sure that you guys were committed before I showed you this. You are now in the presence of a real life prophet.
Starting point is 01:22:38 And you're here because I need witnesses for what's about to happen. you're here because I need witnesses for what's about to happen. And explains that the pie has all the normal ingredients of a blueberry pie with basically poison added. So this woman is going to eat the pie, die, and come back to life. And I need you two to confirm what you see. Great. And- Wonderful. As is happening, yeah, the lady is like shoveling pie into her face, pretty gross. She looks like a ghost.
Starting point is 01:23:15 It's like a, like a ghost. Yeah, she looks not alive. Yeah. Her like fingernails are all like jagged. Like it's just nasty. She's not- She seems like an ancient person. I'm like, if she's a prophet from-
Starting point is 01:23:27 She's like, not of this world. Like a mummy, essentially. Oh no. Yeah, she's like, the way she's shoveling this pie in her face is really like- She's hungry. Not right, what's happening. Also, I feel like it's important to know,
Starting point is 01:23:42 before they saw the prophet come in, they did at some point get the letter opener. I can't remember how. Oh, right. Yes. But Sister Barnes manages when he's just, maybe he's changing the record and she grabs the letter opener and puts it in her pocket. And so when they're looking around the basement for ways out and there isn't one, Sister Barnes
Starting point is 01:24:02 gives the letter opener to Sister Paxton and she was like like, you, we're gonna have a code word. She first said, she's like, whatever he says, we need to challenge him. Like don't just let him get away with whatever he's saying to us. That's how we like buy ourselves time. That's how we push back. Like stick to your beliefs, challenge him.
Starting point is 01:24:17 Then she says, he's watching me too closely. So you need to have this letter opener. And when I give the secret word, you need to stab him in the neck, like right in the neck. And Suspectin's like, doesn't want to, and is like so scared. And she's like, it has to be you, it can't be me. So the secret word is gonna be magic underwear.
Starting point is 01:24:35 When I say that, you fucking stab him. So that has been, that has been established. And they also have the plank with the nails? That's in the room. It's like leaned up against a wall. And so after eating this pie, the prophet woman seemingly dies, falls face first right into that pie.
Starting point is 01:24:57 They, over the speaker, hear Mr. Reed saying, I need you to feel her pulse, confirm that she is dead. They have to like reach over and touch her again. This seems like a ghost like nasty mummy lady. They're lifting her head to be able to reach her throat. It's very gross and scary and they feel her pulse and confirm no pulse. And you can see her face now, right? She doesn't have like a shroud over her anymore. So she's just like an ancient ghostly lady.
Starting point is 01:25:29 Yeah. Okay. And they check to make sure there's no breath coming out of her nose or mouth and confirm that she is dead. There is a little jump scare where she goes like, oh, it was like a final like convulsion. And he's like, no, no, she's still dead.
Starting point is 01:25:44 That just happens when you die, but it's freaky. Also like, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, and it's like a final like convulsion. And he's like, no, no, she's still dead. That just happens when you die. But it's freaky. Also like, so cool you know that. Yeah, I love that you know that. Humongo. Well, cause he says this happened many times. She dies and comes back. Like this is the prophet.
Starting point is 01:25:55 That's what she does. Yeah. And he says, she's going to come back to life now. Has she moved at all? Has anything happened? And they're like, no. And he's like, oh yeah, just give it a minute, give it a minute. It's going to happen like any minute now she's going to come back to life now? Has she moved at all? Has anything happened?" They're like, no. And he's like, just give it a minute. Give it a minute. It's going to happen any minute now. She's going to come back to life. They are watching her nervously. And then the doorbell
Starting point is 01:26:16 rings. And this is also a jump scare. It's very loud. They run up the stairs. They can see about an inch underneath the door frame into the study where Mr. Reed is. And they see him walking towards the hallway, towards the sitting room that they came into. And so they're waiting until he's going to be opening the front doors so that they can yell. They're like, we need to yell, but we need to wait till the doors open. But then he starts walking back towards the room to close the door. And so they're like, yell, yell, yell. So they just like start screaming,
Starting point is 01:26:49 but he closes the door and presumably closes the other door between them. So they're not gonna be able to hear him. But I just, I liked all these smart things. Like they were making a lot of smart decisions. But it don't matter. It doesn't matter. Through the gap under the door,
Starting point is 01:27:02 they see some, a box of matches and they pull on a rug to get this box of matches closer to them. So they're thinking that they're gonna try to start a fire in the like speaker. Science fiction speaker tube. Tube thing, which I just don't think would, it's like snowing and storming outside that he's not going to notice smoke and it's like, if there was smoke, you would be like,
Starting point is 01:27:30 he lit a fire. Also you're trapped in a dungeon house. Like you're going to die in that fire too. Yeah. So, but you know, they're trying something. So they're, they get the matches and they run back down the stairs. We do see he does have to like reset a like deadbolt. He can open the front door,
Starting point is 01:27:49 but he does have a system that just like locks it. So he did have to like reset a little thing, which I thought was a good detail where it's like, okay, that part's true, but he could obviously reset it because of course, but I just appreciated that little detail with this weird little house. Yeah, so they're going to this little speaker tube thing and trying to light matches,
Starting point is 01:28:09 but it's like very damp in there and they're struggling. While we see Mr. Reed answering the door to Topher Grace, elder Kennedy, inquiring about the two girls, have you seen two girls? You're on their list. Mr. Reed is saying, no, I haven't seen them. I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help? And Elder Kennedy leaves and then comes back and you have this moment of like, oh, he knows something
Starting point is 01:28:39 is up. Yeah. He like walks away and he seems like maybe a little suspicious when he walks away. He's like, okay. All right. Thanks. Have a good night. But again, then he rings the doorbell again. And then Mr. Reed opens it and Elder Kennedy says, have you gotten one of these and gives him a pamphlet for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? And he's like, you know, I don't have it. Thank you so much. I'm going to give this a read. And he takes the book and goes back inside down into the dungeon now.
Starting point is 01:29:14 And their bicycles, he's obviously- He has moved them. Yeah. This is where we see, we see Toe for Grace, because it's my thought is like, well, he's going to, he came back because he's like, wait, their bikes are here. Also, it's like fully snowing and middle of the night we see him walk back down the drive towards the gate, shut the gate and walk. And we see there's no bikes there. There's no bikes there. Mr.
Starting point is 01:29:34 Reed took care of that. So yeah, I did appreciate cause yeah, when we first saw Topher Grace's character early on, I was like, oh, we're going to have to like watch this guy come in to save them. And I was like, no, we're not. He's not going to. That's not, that's not a thing. Great. Yeah. And so Mr. Reed comes back into the dungeon as the girls are trying to light these matches and light this fire. When they come back down into the main part of the dungeon, sister Paxton looks at the prophet and says to sister Barnes, she moved. Her head is in a different place than it was. And Sister Barnes is like, you're remembering it wrong.
Starting point is 01:30:06 She didn't move. She was like that. And Sister Paxton is like, I swear she moved. I remember she was not in that same exact, she's like down with her head on the table in the same way, but she's like, it's not in the same place. But they're trying to light these matches. Mr. Reed is coming back down towards them,
Starting point is 01:30:22 close in on Sister Paxton's face. And we can see behind her her the table with the chair where the prophet was sitting, and there was no prophet sitting there anymore. The chair is empty. Pan, to sort of reveal the prophet is standing right behind Sister Paxton, it's one of the very few jump scares,
Starting point is 01:30:39 and the prophet gives this prophecy, and she starts speaking almost out of her, it's like not conscious speaking, but she's speaking this prophecy and she's saying, oh, I saw a white light clouds, but no heaven. This isn't real. So something to that effect. Vomits blueberries everywhere. Vomits blueberries everywhere.
Starting point is 01:30:58 Lovely. Extinguishing the match that they had just had lit. She like vomits blueberries all over it. And Mr. Reed comes over the speaker and he's like, you heard it, she's live, you heard the prophecy? And he's all excited. And he comes into the dungeon, puts his alarm around the prophet,
Starting point is 01:31:14 he's there, there, good job, good prophecy, come on. And he like squirts her up. We had seen there was another like room off to the side of the staircase with a door that is again obviously locked, but he opens that door and like he leads the prophet back in there with a door that is again, obviously locked, but he opens that door and like he leaves the prophet back in there. It's like, okay, good job. Go rest up.
Starting point is 01:31:30 Shuts the door comes down with a little, like a very classic, like narrow top flipping notepad, you know, that you would like a detective and he's like, okay, so tell me what you heard. You heard the prophecy, right? You saw it. That was real. She was dead. She came back. She gave a prophecy.
Starting point is 01:31:47 What did you hear? He's like all excited and is like, this is why you're here. Give me the proof. You've witnessed a true miracle. So they repeat back what they heard. And he's like, fascinating, fascinating. Okay, great.
Starting point is 01:31:57 See, you too can see that she saw the other side, right? That's what's true. That's what's real. You heard it. Don't you want to know what the one true religion is? Like you can do the same thing. Come on. There's more pie. Each of you come have a seat at this table, eat some pie. You'll die. Then you'll come back. You'll, and you'll see what's on the other side. I'll bring you back and then you'll know the truth. Like I can show you God. I can show you God. Yeah. Isn't that
Starting point is 01:32:22 what you want? You're a religious person. If you so believe in your faith, don't you want to like see the truth? And they've like, you've given us every reason to trust you. And so yes, of course. And so Sister Barnes does say, she says, you know, I've been wondering this whole time. And he says what? And she says, how you were going to kill us and make us think it was our idea. Great. And, oh, earlier in another uncomfortable conversation, when he brought them drinks and the candle, he brought them Coca-Cola and they don't drink it.
Starting point is 01:32:53 And he's like, oh, I forgot, I'm sorry, I should have brought you water, right? You can't have caffeine. And they say like, the Bible doesn't say anything about soda, but we just, you know, prefer, we prefer not to drink it. And so he's like, what's your favorite fast food? And I'm like, yeah, we don't eat that. And he's like, yeah, but you have to have a favorite fast food. Obviously. Like what's your favorite? It makes them list their favorite fast food restaurants. They don't list Taco Bell at all. And he says, what about Taco Bell?
Starting point is 01:33:14 And they say, we don't talk about Taco Bell. And so now sister Brian says, you know why we don't talk about Taco Bell? When I was a kid in the town I grew up in, there was a massive E. coli outbreak from Taco Bell and I was four and I got sick with E. coli and I died. I like medically was dead for two minutes and they had to bring me back. And I remember when I was dead, I saw the same thing that that prophet just said, a white light clouds, but no God. And it's not the other side that she's seeing it's she had a near death
Starting point is 01:33:51 experience, like that's what happens when you have a near death experience. Your brain floods your body with images. Like, I think what you just did was a magic trick. I don't think it was a miracle. I think you just pulled off a magic trick. Whereas sister Paxton is more like, Oh my gosh, yeah, I saw it. I witnessed it. Like still sort of going along with it. Like it was a miracle. Sister Barnes is pushing back. And so as she's speaking, Mr. Reed is getting like closer and closer up,
Starting point is 01:34:18 just focusing his energy on sister Barnes as she's challenging him. We see her eyeing sister Paxton being like, okay, get ready to stab, get ready to stab. We see Sister Paxton pulling the letter opener out of her pocket. She's got it held. She's coming up behind Mr. Reed. And Sister Barron says, yeah, I think this was all just a big magic trick.
Starting point is 01:34:40 Says something in effect of like, just like our magic underwear, find some way to connect it. So it's time to stab. But instead we see a slice come across Sister Barnes's throat. No. Before Sister Paxson has had a chance to stab Mr. Reed, he has sliced Sister Barnes's throat
Starting point is 01:35:00 with like a box cutter thing that he has had in his hand. Fuck. We've seen earlier that he has had in his hand. Fuck. We've seen earlier, he has this little like model of his house that's like this maze, like little wooden model with little wooden figurines. And he's been like carving little figurines in his study with this box cutter. It's, I don't know, just an important thing to note
Starting point is 01:35:19 that I don't know when we see it, but we see it at some point. It's very cool. It's like hereditary-esque. There's just like a little mini house. It's very cool. It's like hereditary-esque. There's just like a little mini house. It's just cool. Like our department stuff. Yeah. And he like puts, when they go through the door into the dungeon, he like moves the little wooden figurines
Starting point is 01:35:34 like into the dungeon part of his little maze. But yeah, he slices her across the neck with that box cutter, which I had forgotten that he had. They got me. Sister Barnes is holding her neck bleeding out. She falls to the floor. Sister Paxton is freaking out, but she does. She puts that letter over her back in her pocket. Mr. Reed didn't see that she had it. Mr. Reed says, saying to Sister Paxton, it's okay. She's going to come back. Like, don't worry. She's going to come
Starting point is 01:35:58 back. And he like gets on the floor next to her body and is like, she's going to come back. Don't worry. She's like bleeding out, horrified. Oh God. And seemingly closes her eyes and dies. And he's sitting next to her checking her pulse, saying to Sister Paxton, like, don't worry, don't worry, she's going to come back. And then he's like, huh, weird, she's not coming back. Huh, that's strange.
Starting point is 01:36:19 It's just sort of like, I wonder what's going on here. What's up with that? She should be coming back, That's how this works. And looks to her arm where we saw that scar earlier on her like inside of her bicep, tiny little scar, cuts her arm open at that scar point and starts digging around in there. What?
Starting point is 01:36:40 Pull something out. Ooh, it's gonna make me sick just to- It's really gross. Pull something out. He's like, there it is. And just to... Oh, it's really gross. Pull something out. He's like, there it is. And then he's like, oh, nope, sorry. That's just a vein. Ugh.
Starting point is 01:36:49 Ugh. Puts him back, digs around again, and pulls out a really skinny, cylindrical, little metal object and says, aha, here it is. Puts it on the table in the center of the room. We do see a little movement still coming from Sister Barnes,, but she's like there's blood around her on the ground it's not it's not good and Mr. Reed says I knew it. She can't come back. She can't be resurrected because she's a simulation. You know, she's not real
Starting point is 01:37:19 This is a microchip. She was imitating a human being and she's not real as She can't like go to the other side and come back. And sister Paxton sort of like, uh, uh, uh, like really, she's like, this is really taking a turn. Yeah. And he's like, but you would be able to, because you're real. Like you, you know, we could go to the other side, go through the simulation, see God and come back. And like, don't you want to do that? Sad about her, but she wasn't really begin with, you know? And I knew that all along and this is just confirms my suspicion.
Starting point is 01:37:52 It's all of a sudden like, wait, what are we talking? Like now we're talking about simulation? Like what? And we see sister Maxine kind of take this in and she's terrified, obviously. She sees sister Barnes and she, I think she even says it out loud to herself under her breath, she repeats like,
Starting point is 01:38:07 challenge him, challenge him. She gathers the courage to say, I don't think that that's a microchip. She says, I think that's a birth control implant. And he says, interesting, have you ever known a Mormon missionary with a birth control implant? Has she ever told you she was on birth control? She says no, but it makes sense that she wouldn't tell me because I'm sure she felt insecure about
Starting point is 01:38:33 it and worried that people in the community would judge her. So I imagine she would keep it a secret. And he's like, oh, interesting, interesting. He's just sort of like watching her to see where she's going with this. And she says, I think you're improvising. And he says, what do you mean? She says, I think something happened that you didn't expect. I'm not sure entirely what it was, but I think now things have not gone according to plan
Starting point is 01:39:02 and you're improvising. And this simulation thing, you seem like you don't really plan and you're improvising and this simulation thing, you're like, you seem like you don't really know where you're going with it and you're making it up as you go along. And he's sort of like, okay, go on. So what would I do next in this situation? Looking like impressed. Yeah, he's a little impressed, but also clearly like,
Starting point is 01:39:21 aha, see your point, got it. And he says, okay, so then what do you think is happening? Then explain to me what you think is happening. And she says, I think the prophet died. I think that woman did die. And when we went upstairs, when the elder came, you knew that the elder was going to come. And so that part you expected. And so when we were distracted, screaming for him, someone else came in, disposed of that body and took their place to be the prophet again.
Starting point is 01:39:58 Big leap for me. This is where I was like, I've said a million times, if there's ever a situation in which I'm forced to solve a mystery, it's just not gonna happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I suppose if you're to believe that you can't die and come back to life, if someone was dead and then someone was alive, it would have to be two people, right? I think that's where she's coming from.
Starting point is 01:40:21 So sure. And she does say, I don't know how this would happen but I just think she did die. So whoever was alive is someone new. And I think you told them what to say, what the prophecy should be, but they went off script because the end of the prophecy she said, this isn't real.
Starting point is 01:40:39 And I don't think she was supposed to say that. I think that was a clue to us. And he's like, okay, interesting, interesting. Yes. And he says, okay, so if that's true, there would have to be another way out of this basement. If someone was going to come and dispose of a body, they would have to put that body somewhere. If someone was going to come and dispose of a body, they would have to put that body somewhere. So where might that be? She looks around. There's been water dripping from the ceiling this whole time.
Starting point is 01:41:12 So she looks up and again, kind of a leap for me, but she sort of gets this idea of like, cause they've checked all the walls, right? I think she thinks like maybe it's in the ground. She moves the table out of the way. The water has been dripping onto the table and the water starts dripping onto the floor, all into like one little crevice in the ground. And so there's like dirt on the ground,
Starting point is 01:41:32 she like brushes it away to reveal, yes, in fact, there is like a cellar-like door on the ground. Okay. Opens it up, it leads just right down into a pit. We just see the straight down, you know, ladder into what is a very dark pit-like room. And he's like, proud of her. He's like, aha, okay, there's something down there.
Starting point is 01:41:56 Are you gonna go look? Are you gonna go down there? Cause he says, if you're right and you go down there, you're gonna see a dead body. Do you really want to do that? And she says, I have to know. I have to know if I'm right. I have to know what's true is basically what she says.
Starting point is 01:42:15 And he's like, OK, have fun. And she climbs down the ladder. Ends up in this little damp, nasty cellar room, and yes, there is a dead woman's corpse in a nasty, gauzy, shroudy dress. She looks back up to see Hugh Grant standing above her in the basement, and he just shuts that cellar door on top of her. Fulma can't get fooled again.
Starting point is 01:42:45 I mean, he did call that trick once already. But it is sort of like, where the fuck else is she gonna go, you know? Which I think is kind of her feeling too of like, I'm gonna die, I might as well know what's going on, which that's an instinct I can get behind. Yeah. So she, again, only way out is through.
Starting point is 01:43:07 She's already down here. She starts walking through now again, this very maze like house. It's like there's now like a series of rooms. She starts walking in a direction to the end of this little, you know, corpse room, finds a door, opens it. It's very like seven circles of hell. Is that what it's like? room, finds a door, opens it. It's very like seven circles of hell, is that? It's like going down almost like,
Starting point is 01:43:28 what is that found footage movie we did, Underground Paris? Oh, As Above So Below. As Above So Below. It's just like keeping going deeper and deeper towards a... Really bad thing. Hell-like thing. Yeah, so she's walking through all these rooms
Starting point is 01:43:44 that are like giving me very first season of True Detective vibes, like weird figurines. Antwebs. Yeah, spider webs. Mossy sticking out of weird places, eye holes and stuff, candles lit, clutter, a weird iconography, just these creepy rooms. She walks through three of them,
Starting point is 01:44:02 just going and going and going, opening doors that are in front of her until she gets to the next fucked up room that she doesn't want to see, until she finally reaches a door, locked with her bike lock. Oh wow. Reaches into her pocket to find she still has that key,
Starting point is 01:44:19 opens the bike lock, goes into a room. And Henry, what do you think is in this room? Oh Jesus, I have no fucking idea. I didn't see it coming. I didn't see it coming. I was very surprised by this room. I guess I shouldn't have been, but I was. Is it her whole Mormon church there to congratulate her
Starting point is 01:44:36 for getting into the escape room? He has a t-shirt that's like, I was a missionary and knocked on someone's door, I watched my friend die. And all I got was this t-shirt. No, it's a great guess. It is, oh, you want to guess again? No, I guess I don't want to guess again.
Starting point is 01:44:54 You tell me. I'll tell you, I'll tell you. It's a room full of women in cages. Yes, yes. That was the other thing I was thinking. Dog kennel-like crate cages. There's probably eight of them, four on each side. They're in the Prophet outfit.
Starting point is 01:45:09 They're freezing cold. It's very cold in this room. It's snowing outside. They're shivering. There's like mist coming from the ceiling, like a garden mister that's, I'm sure, meant to just like, give them just enough moisture to not be completely dead. She crawls down to one of them, like reaches through and holds her hand, takes her own coat off and like shoves it through the bars
Starting point is 01:45:33 to like give this woman her coat. That's so sad. Yeah, she's just like sitting with her. And Hugh Grant comes in and he's so proud of her. He's like, wow, you did it. You found the room. And he's carrying a watering can, like's like, wow, you did it. You found the room. And he's carrying a watering can, like a plant watering can, which he was holding,
Starting point is 01:45:48 I noticed only in the trailer, when he first opened the door for them at the beginning. And he starts giving these ladies water through this fucking watering can, which is just so fucking awful. Horrible. Jesus Christ. And she says to him, like, why are you doing this?
Starting point is 01:46:05 And he's like, he starts explaining. This is, you know, his like evil mastermind monologue. He says, why am I doing this? All these women chose to be here. Just like you, they walked through every room of their own volition. I'm so sick of this. I'm so sick of it. I'm just sick of it by now.
Starting point is 01:46:19 They showed up here. They kept going. They're here because they want to be. This is what they want to be doing. And he has like a gardening shears and he starts clipping one of the woman's nails. I think it's the woman who gave them the prophecy, starts cutting her nails.
Starting point is 01:46:37 And you better believe he chops off a finger. Cause he's like, you're right, she did go off script. She did go off script. And then he cuts her finger off. And all these women have just been here for years and years. That's why the woman is old. They look like feral at this point. Like they are probably like driven insane by just being, yeah,
Starting point is 01:46:54 like malnourished and locked in a cage and freezing. Yeah. So they're just like hanging on by a thread. And my, my guess at this point is like, that's what is going to happen to Sister Pa- Like these were all missionaries who came to his door in some capacity. Seems that way. And so he says to Sister Paxton, he says,
Starting point is 01:47:12 have you figured it out what the one true religion is? And she says, yes, I have. It's control. You have been trying to show me that religion is all about control, getting people to do what you want them to do because they believe in it. Just like you've gotten me down here, you've gotten all these women." And he's like, exactly. Yes, that's control. Religion is just controlling you. You do,
Starting point is 01:47:36 you have done everything that I have wanted you to do tonight because you've believed, you've wanted to see what's past the next door. You've like believed what you're doing is the right thing to do. You've let your religion control you your whole life. You can't come in a room that they say you can't come into. You knock on my door because they tell you you're supposed to. He's like, I've known what you were gonna do
Starting point is 01:47:56 every step of the way. And he's like coming up behind her saying this, nasty bad man. And he says, you let them control everything about you. What you eat, what you say, what you wear, even right down to your magic underwear. And she stabs him in the neck. Okay.
Starting point is 01:48:21 Okay. And it's a good stab. It's a big ass letter opener. Like this thing is legit. It's neck width for sure. Neck length. More than neck width on a normal neck I'd say. Wonderful.
Starting point is 01:48:34 On an average fit neck, it would go all the way through. Wonderful. And he is clearly shocked and also like, this is bad, this is a bad wound. Mm-hmm. He's choking, you know, blood coming out of his mouth and she runs for it, runs back through all the creepy rooms, climbs herself up the ladder, creepy ladder, comes into the basement, runs up the stairs through the door which he has left open into his study and she's like also this study has like so many doors. Like this house is a maze.
Starting point is 01:49:06 She's trying to figure out where to go, which door to go through. And she's lost. She like tries a door, it's not right. Tries another door, it's not right. Finds herself back in the fucking basement. But we're still like, you know, he's down in the cellar bleeding out. And so she's trying to figure out like, where the fuck do I go? Where the fuck do I go? Turns around and we just see close up of that long ass box cutter stabbing right into her stomach
Starting point is 01:49:32 and pulling out. Oh no. Oh. Mr. Reed has made it back to the basement as well. He's not doing good, but he has made it back and she holds her stomach, backs herself against a wall, slumps down. This is not good for her. He is collapsed on the stairs. They're making eye contact. He's bleeding out. She's bleeding out. And he like crawling himself towards her.
Starting point is 01:50:08 And she says, have you heard of the prayer experiment? And he's like, no. She says, they split a group of medical patients into two groups, had half of them pray and half of them not, half received prayers and half not. And the results were exactly the same. Yeah, it was like conclusive. Yeah, it was conclusive.
Starting point is 01:50:28 Prayer does not save you. Prayer does not work. It doesn't work. But that's not really the point. Sometimes it's nice to think about someone other than yourself and to put out good and hopeful thoughts, even if it doesn't work. Like I think that's actually really beautiful,
Starting point is 01:50:45 that that's not what it's for. It's not about the results, it's about the act of doing it. And so she closes her eyes, does her cutie little prayer hands. I like a clasp prayer hand. I like when fingers are curled down. You often see the like, prayer hands emoji. The namaste, fingers up.
Starting point is 01:51:04 There's something really like tender to me about bringing those fingers down. I agree. I agree with that. That's how she does it. And I really liked that. It's like really holding close. I liked it.
Starting point is 01:51:17 So she does that and she closes her eyes and under her breath, she starts praying for both of them. And he is, you know, crawling his way towards her. She's keeping her eyes closed. She's, you know, she's just doing, still holding onto her faith, despite all evidence of the contrary. We see him getting closer to her with that box cutter
Starting point is 01:51:36 and he is ready. He is gonna slice her throat. It's his final fucking act. And he gets right up to her, putting the blade to her throat. And then, smash, he falls to the ground, blood spurts onto Sister Paxton, that is not her own. We look up and we see Sister Barnes. Okay.
Starting point is 01:51:57 I mean, not looking good. No. This is not good for Sister Barnes, but she has gotten that nail filled plank. Great. And bludgeoned Mr. Reed with it. Mr. Reed is dead. Sister Barnes collapses on the ground at Sister Paxton's feet. This was the last bout of strength that she had.
Starting point is 01:52:18 She is most definitely dying or dead now. And Sister Paxton strokes her head, says thank you, kisses her head. And gets up holding onto her stomach and tries to get her way out of this house. She goes back up the stairs. She finds his model of the house, tries to figure out how do I get out of here,
Starting point is 01:52:44 finds an exit point, goes for it, gets out of the house tries to figure out how do I get out of here, finds an exit point, goes for it, gets out of the house. It is dawn is breaking. It is snowing. It is freezing. She doesn't have her coat. She's got a big old stab wound in her stomach, but she is just, she's got her phone looking to see if she has service. She's just stumbling her way through these snowy woods. She's got her hand out and we see, she looks at her finger and a butterfly lands on her finger. She just looks at it.
Starting point is 01:53:11 She looks at this butterfly. We sort of pan out and see there's not a butterfly on her finger. In reality, where she's just holding her finger out on my nose, she's just seeing that. She's standing there peaceful. That's the end of the movie. Wow. Wow.
Starting point is 01:53:29 See, I saw the, I think the end is really interesting because I saw it differently. I saw it as her, I saw it as her seeing the butterfly and then seeing the butterfly like in an instant disappear, like as if it is a simulation. And I think that's part of the point is like the ambiguity of it because we can't know and that's the whole message of the movie is faith versus like fact. And yeah, so it's like, it gives us an almost moment of like, sister Barnes is the
Starting point is 01:54:00 butterfly landing on her finger and proof that the afterlife is real or whatever. And we can get messages from the other side and then very quickly taken away. But then also, I think because of the simulation thing that also just stuck in my mind of like, this is almost giving credence to the simulation thing. But I think it might be specifically giving you everything at once at the end so that you can kind of make your own decision. And also just to show like, we can never know one true religion. Yeah, it's interesting.
Starting point is 01:54:35 I saw the butterfly as like, she's dying. Like she's not gonna make it, she's dead. And in her final moments, she's having this moment of faith and it doesn't matter that it's not actually happening, because it's a beautiful thing for her to have as she dies. Well, it goes back to the first thing that she said, I think Paxton said it, which was like, it's a feeling, and that's what matters.
Starting point is 01:55:00 What matters is how it makes you feel, yeah. Yeah, if the butterfly isn't there, she still is at peace, and that's what matters at the end of the day. Yeah, it's why I feel like this movie is and isn't anti-religion, because it is saying it's not real, but it's also saying that doesn't matter.
Starting point is 01:55:18 It's kind of saying like nobody- It's as real as somebody wants it to be. Yeah, like nobody can know, and- Yeah. So we can't, I guess, judge each other for it, because it's like anything can be true and anything can not be true. And we don't fucking know.
Starting point is 01:55:34 Even like the belief and disbelief, the two options he presents, right? Either God is real and so therefore God's bad because of all these bad things, or God is not real and we have nothing. And I think the movie's saying, but why are there only two options? Like-
Starting point is 01:55:48 Sister Barnes even says that. She says, you're ignoring that it's a spectrum. It's not just A or B. There's a whole spectrum of belief and it's not zero or a hundred percent. It's interesting. And I'm fascinated by the fact that these, both these actresses were
Starting point is 01:56:05 formerly Mormon and are not. I don't know a ton about Mormonism, but the things I do know I do find to be troubling. Yes. Everybody I know that has a history of Mormonism is no longer Mormon. And I know there are different, there's different kinds of Mormonism, but that said, I will just say, yeah, everybody I know that has had Mormon upbringing has left the Mormon church. Yeah. But again, it's like, the problem is maybe the institution
Starting point is 01:56:32 not the spirituality itself. Right, yes. That is so top of mind for me all the time because I feel like for so many good reasons, a gazillion good reasons, people have like fled religion because religion has been just used to control people and has committed like some of the most horrendous, disgusting, violent, harmful acts upon people. But I think I really do believe that, and this is something that I, there's that author who just came to the church who talked,
Starting point is 01:57:07 who is the clinical psychiatrist at Columbia University who has been studying spirituality for the past 25 years and has come to the conclusion, I mean, there've been all these studies done trying to prove that everyone is, no matter what, born with a spiritual impulse. Like, it's stronger in some people than others, but most children have some kind of spiritual impulse.
Starting point is 01:57:31 And so, the idea, like him saying, you know, you've just been told since you were young that this is like your religion and you have to believe in it, it's kind of like, that's part of the problem, but also it's like, I think by like throwing out religion and abandoning religion, we're still left with some kind of spiritual impulse.'s like, I think by like throwing out religion and abandoning religion, we're still left with some kind of spiritual impulse. And like, how do you channel that? And what does that look like? Or do you not channel it? And do you like
Starting point is 01:57:53 kind of let it wither and die within you, which I think can also be like a hard thing as a human to have to like, let go of, you know? Yeah, it's like leads to like a real bleakness that is not a fun space to occupy. Yeah, and it's interesting, because I have no idea what the fuck's gonna happen, but I feel like other things will fill that void. And what are they? Because they're probably gonna be destructive too.
Starting point is 01:58:23 Cause people are gonna take advantage of that spiritual impulse that people I think just naturally kind of have. Right. And because people want answers and security. Yeah, I guess I should explain that better. When I say spiritual impulse, I don't mean like. No, I know what you mean.
Starting point is 01:58:39 I think of it as like we're all stardust type of thing. Like you feel like you want to be connected to the world around you in some more meaningful way. Right. Right. The opposite of like we're ants on a rock and nothing matters. Like that. I don't think we're inclined to feel that way without being led down a path of like nihilism. Right. Yeah. Like a feeling of connection. Yeah. Like I'm sure pre-religion and again, religion is like, it's so dense and I have not studied anything to do with religion.
Starting point is 01:59:07 So Tim, but like I'm sure pre the like religious texts, there was probably, you know, there was like worship of animals and nature and there's always, yeah, I would assume that that's always existed in some form. It's so interesting to me. It's kind of like, I just think it's really, really interesting. I think it's really interesting.
Starting point is 01:59:33 I think we're in a really interesting like pivot point as a society where it's like, what's gonna happen next? You know, it's part of the reason why I'm kind of obsessed with all of these, like, life coaches. There's been the, like, an explosion of people becoming life coaches and also just these people on social media, Instagram, who are, like, relationship intimacy coaches. And they, like, borrow a lot of language from religious texts and kind of, like... So do cults. So do cults. Exactly. Like it is a new form of all the same, a religious cult, but it's under the guise of like intimacy,
Starting point is 02:00:14 rape coaching. Yeah, I just think that I have felt like it has been something that has been missing in my life. I feel like Christianity does not solve that for me. Like even though I'm married to a priest, I'm married to Tim because like he likes to talk about these things with me and I find his perspective really interesting. And he does have like texts he can reference. He's warm and kind and smart and wonderful. Yeah. I mean, I was just saying to him last night, I was like, I feel like it makes more sense to me to like look to nature as a Yeah
Starting point is 02:00:47 Like actual nature like patterns within nature or like the way that animals like survive within nature Existence of life Yeah, rather than like looking at the Bible like that just like immediately makes more sense to me Me too. I can get more into that and like elemental things like the sun and water and wind Well, and the fact that like mushrooms can communicate with each other like that's the sun and water and wind. Well, and the fact that like mushrooms can communicate with each other, like that's the stuff that makes me go,
Starting point is 02:01:08 whoa, what is on this planet? And mushrooms literally process toxicity. Like that's the whole point of a mushroom is to like process toxicity out of, and like, you know, there's just like little things like that that nature is so amazing. God bless mushrooms. Nature is so cool.
Starting point is 02:01:24 Nature is really amazing. Nature is really amazing. Nature is really fucking cool. And so when I say that, I think it's easy to say, oh, you mean you can just like go on a walk in the woods and like, that's like your religion. And it's like, no, I don't mean that. I mean, like trying to understand. No, no, no, I know, I know, but I guess I'm trying to say,
Starting point is 02:01:38 like, what is the, how could you even like get your hands around it or like think about it more deeply or like let it become more a part of your life in a way that someone who goes to church every Sunday, who I also do go to church every Sunday. And also in modern world, we're just separated from nature much more than we were. And we're very lonely. We're separated from each other in a digital world. And so it's just like...
Starting point is 02:02:04 And our bodies, we're totally separated from our bodies. We're just on our screens all day. And that's what makes people susceptible to being like cults and stuff, because you just are like, I feel bad all the time. Tell me, tell me, help. Why not feel bad? Give me help.
Starting point is 02:02:19 And if someone comes in confidently saying like, hey, I have the answers. Like that sounds really nice to a lot of people. I just watched the cult documentary on HBO, the- Which one? Ooh, I wanna watch it. Breath of Fire, the yoga cult one. Yeah, I mean, yeah, when people talk about how,
Starting point is 02:02:39 when they think about like the wonder of God and how expansive it is and that like brings them to tears, I feel like, yeah, there's a similar, like how much we couldn't comprehend the age of sharks, like things like that, just being like, I can wrap my, like when I think about the wonder of the things that exist and how do they exist and what does it mean, that, I feel like that does feel spiritual to me. And that does feel like, I said like just different languages saying the same thing. It's like it's different framework for like same feelings.
Starting point is 02:03:10 It's like we all have that longing, I guess, inside and have, yeah, different put different words to it. Yeah, because this is a conversation Tim and I have a lot where I'm like, what do you think you would be like if you'd been raised differently? Because he was raised by like very progressive liberal Christians in New York City. And that's who he is now. And so like what if he had who if he'd had completely different parents, and he kind of feels like he probably would have ended up if he'd been raised with no religion in his life at all, he probably would have been a Buddhist. Like he feels like he would have just like that's what he would have done. But I don't know, life at all. He probably would have been a Buddhist. Like, he feels like he would have just like,
Starting point is 02:03:46 that's what he would have done. But I don't know. It's interesting. He kind of frames it in this way of like, I have the spiritual impulse and what Christianity provides me is like the words to support it and the rituals to like nurture it in my life. And that's why I'm a Christian. But it's not because I think it's like the right or the only.
Starting point is 02:04:08 Remember when I got into witchcraft? Same thing. Same thing as Christianity. Where it is just like observing, at least the way I was doing it, was observing like the moon and doing rituals with the full moons and new moons. And yeah, it's just... I feel like people do want that because it gives you structure in your life and... And it allows you to be both internal
Starting point is 02:04:32 and external at the same time. And think about the past and the future and... And also like something to give you if you're going through something that's really difficult, like just something to hold on to, like anything that can make you feel stronger or more hopeful when things can be really bleak. I mean, I think that's-
Starting point is 02:04:51 And the prayer thing is like, sometimes I'll still pray and I don't believe in God, but I feel like it's more about, like they said, it's just like the act of doing it feels nice, like when you're sick and you go like, uh, and it's like, I just feel better when I do that. And like, there's just whatever, it's whatever you gotta do. Being alive is really insane. It's a really insane thing that we had.
Starting point is 02:05:18 Even that, when I started thinking about like, I had no control over being alive here and now in the circumstances that I am in. That's wild. Like basically every single thing about my life, it's all based on like, where was I born into? And why? Yeah. And like, and then we make choices and do what we can with it. And, you know, whatever you feel about like fate, destiny control, not, but it's like, there's so, about like fate, destiny, control, not control. But it's like, there's so, it's fascinating to think about being alive and like to process it however you can
Starting point is 02:05:50 because it's a really insane thing that we all have to do is be alive. Like it's really insane. Right, because like where were you before you were alive and where will you be after you die? And why am I alive? Why? Is to do this podcast.
Starting point is 02:06:04 That's why I'm here. Same. God, I love doing this podcast. But yeah, the things that are not okay are when it gets into, yeah, like controlling other people or ranking people's like. Here's why, do this. Or the fact that we're literally supposed to believe in a white male God.
Starting point is 02:06:23 Like that's literally, that's doing harm to all of us. Yeah, only a white male God who once again, I feel the need to point out, looks a lot like Santa Claus. It's just a thing that we are not talking about enough. I feel like that should have been in the movie. Hugh Grant having like a picture of Santa on the wall next to a picture of God, like iterations, iterations. Which one?
Starting point is 02:06:44 That really should have been in the movie. The man who's watching you to see if you're good or bad, gives you gifts, takes them away. Oh God, it's too much, it's too much. It's almost Christmas time. Oh my God. Well, I love you guys. I'm literally gonna go to church after this.
Starting point is 02:07:01 Wow. Oh my gosh. I really do wanna, I want Tim to watch this movie and I want to hear all his thoughts on it. I think he would just be like, this is stupid. I could see that. Yeah. I do think if I knew too much about religion, I'd be like, I don't know. I think, yeah, that happens.
Starting point is 02:07:18 Anything that someone is truly an expert in when you see it done in the movies, you're like, oh, this and this is actually not. He would get really pedantic. He'd be like, that's not technically what happened. Yeah, like how upset I got about the representation of podcasting and nobody wants us. It's not like that actually. That's how it works. But I have to say I am like, I do like that there's content out there that's grappling
Starting point is 02:07:42 with this, even if it's just Hugh Grant doing it. But I think that this is an interesting question and I would like to see more. I'm sure there are more. If you drop in the comments, other movies that kind of explore this, because there's gotta be. Maybe horror specifically.
Starting point is 02:07:59 There has to be horror specifically. I mean, religion is just- Rife. What a subject to explore for that. Yeah. Yeah. Rife was the word I wanted to use, but I couldn't think of what would come after. I did. Did you notice how I didn't say anything?
Starting point is 02:08:11 I was like, right. Rife is that it's definitely the first word describing what I tell you. But I could tell you that it's right. Oh, my God. I can hear my children that are about to break into this room.
Starting point is 02:08:29 Oh God, the children are gonna break and we better get out of here. Wrap this up. Love you guys, love you listeners. We'll be out next week for Thanksgiving holiday. For those of you in the US, happy Thanksgiving. And you know, we'll be back in December. We will be back.
Starting point is 02:08:48 We love you so much. We love you. Thanks for being out with us. And I'll do blood in the throat sound. Oh, yeah, yeah. From all of us here to scary dinner watch. Goodbye. Goodbye.
Starting point is 02:09:02 We did it. We did it. We did it. We did it. We did it. Too Scary Didn't Watch. Goodbye. We did it. We made it. Thank you all for listening to another episode of Too Scary Didn't Watch. If you enjoy the show, please remember to subscribe and rate us on Spotify and Apple podcasts. Five stars only or we will haunt you. And if you simply can't get enough of us, we have good news for you. We have lots of bonus content available on our Patreon at patreon.com slash TSDW podcast.
Starting point is 02:09:32 You'll get access to video trailer reactions, two bonus episodes a month, the power to vote for upcoming episodes, and more. And last but not least, you can follow us on social media at TSDW podcast. We'll be back next week with a new episode. We love you. That was a head gum podcast. Hey, everyone, I'm Dan Locata and I'm Nick Nani. And we are the hosts of Chicken Podmigiana now on Head Gum.
Starting point is 02:10:03 It's the very first podcast for and about Italian Americans. That's right. But if you're not Italian American, you can listen to, I guess. I suppose we can let you in, cut you a deal. We're talking about all sorts of crazy topics on this. Who's a better cook, nonna or mama? Who you got in that fight, nonna or mama? I mean, I can't say bad about nana
Starting point is 02:10:26 or else she'd smack me across head. We got some great guests on the show. We got Wayne Diamond. We got Edie Modica. We got Mike Hanford. And our wife, Sevriel. So subscribe to Chicken Parmesan on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts,
Starting point is 02:10:42 or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Thursday.

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