Coming soon, Wilton will be able to see itself on the streaming screen. A Netflix movie with scenes that were shot here last November has been scheduled to debut on Oct. 5.
Based on a short story from Stephen King’s 2020 anthology, If It Bleeds, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone stars Donald Sutherland (M*A*S*H, The Hunger Games, Ordinary People) and 18-year-old Jaeden Martell, who starred in King’s It movies and Knives Out. The duo plays an odd-couple pair of friends — a young boy and a reclusive billionaire. When the older man dies, the boy slips the man’s cell phone into the casket before the funeral, only to discover “Can you hear me now?” goes beyond the grave.
Key funeral scenes were shot in the historic former Wilton Baptist Church (254 Danbury Rd.) and can be seen in the trailer.
The movie was produced for Netflix by Ryan Murphy and horror movie producer Jason Blum (Blumhouse) and directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks).
The movie was shot at several Fairfield County locations, including at Westport’s Sherwood Island State Park, the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, and the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk. Some of those locations are recognizable in the trailer as well.