Alamo Drafthouse is presenting Heretic in smell-o-vision for one night only

Odorama is coming back, and not a moment too soon. We already have 4DX screenings of Twisters where the theater rains on the audience (this writer was present and can confirm—it ruled), so why not a technology that’s been around for over half a century? Thankfully, A24 is working hard to right this generational wrong. 

The studio just announced that they would be screening upcoming Hugh Grant thriller Heretic with the technology. As you can see in the film’s trailer, the scent of blueberry pie is a major hinge point for the plot; to get its pieces into place, Heretic sees Grant lure in two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) by tricking them into believing that his “wife” was home and baking in the kitchen through a pie-scented candle.  

Anyone who can get themselves to an Alamo Drafthouse cinema will get a luxury smell-o-vision experience through Joya fragrance studio’s “atomization technology,” which they describe in a statement as “a refined scent experience that suits any space or mood, by employing cold-air diffusion to disperse scented molecules as fine, dry air.” (Just try to focus on the smell of blueberry and ignore the competing scents of hamburgers, popcorn, and lager.) Not to worry non-Alamo goers: other theaters won’t be totally scentless. In a press release, the studio promised that “fans can also look out for exclusive treats and scratch-and-sniff cards at all other advanced screenings nationwide… allowing them to actively participate in the experience and enjoy the aroma during this pivotal scene.” From the trailer, it seems like “enjoying the aroma” is precisely what got our two missionaries into potentially fatal trouble in the first place, but you wouldn’t be that dumb, right? You can test your mettle for one night only on October 30, before the film opens wide on November 8.

This fun little gimmick follows a long tradition started by Jack Cardiff for his film Scent Of Mystery in 1960 and popularized in scratch-and-sniff form by John Waters for Polyester in 1981. Since then, it has been used for a 2009 screening of Waters’ earlier work Pink Flamingoes, as well as several children’s movies like Rugrats Go Wild in 2003 and Spy Kids: All The Time In The World in 2011. It’s largely fallen out of fashion since then, but hey, everything old is new again. You can now buy mystery pink or green Wicked cupcakes and Wicked Rice Krispies Treats at your local grocery store. Why not bring the whole era back? Fingers crossed for a The Brutalist release tweaked to fit those classic red and blue 3D glasses before the year is out.