Editor’s note: To mark the release on November 3 of the new C. S. Lewis biopic, The Most Reluctant Convert, we are running a series of articles exploring C. S. Lewis’s views on science, mind, and more.

SPECIAL LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Get a FREE chapter exploring C. S. Lewis’s views of intelligent design from the book The Magician’s Twin.

John West had a really interesting conversation with director Norman Stone about Stone’s upcoming C. S. Lewis film, The Most Reluctant Convert. There are some very creative aspects of the movie — it’s no mere straightforward biographical treatment. In explaining how he came to the project, and why he made certain decisions in completing it, Stone shows himself to be quite a thoughtful artist. John West is also an impressive Lewis scholar and makes a great interlocutor. The discussion covers, among other topics, the role of science and the occult in Lewis’s thinking. At the end, they talk about future Lewis projects including what it would take to adapt That Hideous Strength for the screen. Stone explains why, despite the novel’s eerie timeliness, it would not be easy. If it were done right, he allows, “The severed head could stay.” Well, that’s a relief.

I think you will find this interview a fitting and welcome introduction to the film, which will premiere across the United States for one night only on November 3. More information about tickets is here.