I know as a horror fan, we’re all supposed to cringe when a critic proposes a genre film to be some kind of “elevated horror”, but I think Heretic is the rare example where it’s not only apt, but the closest you can come to describing the taut and densely layered psychological thriller. The latest effort both written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods who also helmed A Quiet Place, presents itself to the unsuspecting viewer as a simply a horror movie, but it’s actually a rather dense deconstruction of religion as it utilizes its plot of two trapped missionaries to work through various theological concepts and conundrums. There’s no easy way around this since the film is dealing with some rather delicate subject matter, as the film is intent on challenging the viewer’s faith and intellect in ways I honestly could have never expected.
The film itself is the story of two young, bright eyed female Mormon missionaries who are still settling in their faiths and figuring out life, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East). They are summoned to the home of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) who put in for a visit from the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints, and that is where our story takes its fateful turn. While extolling the virtues of the doctrines of Joseph Smith, the two women soon realize that not only does Mr. Reed probably know more about their own religion than they do, the polite discussion turns into something much more sinister, as he begins to weaponize his knowledge against them. When the parties are fully unmasked, the film completely shifts into a fight for survival for the pair who are also set to endure a series of lessons meant to test their faith.
I assume the use of Mormonism in the film is because if they utilized another religion, this script and film for that matter would have never seen the light of day.
While the aforementioned script and concept alone are solid, it’s Hugh Grant who makes this film as great as it is. He starts the film in his typical charming personae that you’d expect, but there’s something sinister that slowly works its way to the front of his performance, where he’s as completely unhinged. This journey however is peppered with flourishes of diatribes on religion and pop culture that dig into some very precious topics thanks to a script that builds the tension with an unnerving and razor sharp precision. It’s how Mr Reed delivers these “sermons” to his captives, bouncing between menacing and mansplaining in a way that is equally terrifying as it is insightful at his grasp and command of the subject matter. It’s a needle that’s flawlessly threaded throughout the runtime as in a performance that fascinated me as much it horrified me.
The film is flawlessly executed once the ball gets metaphorically rolling as the film toys with both expectation and intention throughout its runtime. There’s character subtext, religious subtext and this is all elevated even further once we start talking about Mr. Reed’s house, something that evoked Ready or Not for me, in how the locations, surroundings and production design play as big of a part in this “game” as the characters. All of this begs after the credits roll for the viewer to ponder what they just witnessed with a fine tooth comb, to glean any further easter eggs or hints tucked away in the film. It’s something I wasn’t ready for just how hard this film can hit anyone with any kind of faith in its journey and because of that I can’t recommend enough to anyone that might fall in that demographic.
