Belief, Faith, and Terror

Heretic is about two young, naïve Mormon missionaries who find themselves in a crisis that tests their faith to the limit. Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) are on a mission to promote their faith.

They travel to a secluded house and meet the enigmatic Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). He invites them in, but they refuse at first, insisting that a woman must be present before they can enter a home. Reed convinces the girls by telling them that his wife is inside.

Reed has initially lured them there by sending a request to the local LDS church for more information on their faith. At first, he seems relatively congenial. It turns out that he already knows a great deal about Mormonism, and about theology in general.

He interrogates the girls about their church’s 19th century polygamy practices. Barnes and Paxton, who are growing increasingly uncomfortable with the situation, emphasize again that they want to meet Reed’s wife.

The girls are naïve, yes, but they’re not stupid. It doesn’t take them long to realize that there’s something very off about Mr. Reed. Unfortunately, Reed has anticipated this. He has taken steps to make it impossible for them to escape his home or even make a phone call for help.

Barnes and Paxton have effectively been kidnapped. They find themselves trapped in a nightmarish theological debate with Reed, who wants to teach them what he believes is a profound truth about the “one true religion.”

A Trio of Effective Performances

Hugh Grant, traditionally known for lighthearted romcom roles, is surprisingly creepy as the villain. The religion debate scenes are the best part of the movie. Reed actually makes many good points about religion and faith. One of the unsettling things about him is that he can be totally insane and yet still have cogent, thoughtful views on many subjects.

Sophie Thatcher is one of the best young horror actresses today. Her character arc goes places that I didn’t expect. Sister Barnes has some solid retorts to Reed’s theological views. Thatcher has such an intense screen presence. It’s impossible to take your eyes off of her!

I wasn’t familiar with Chloe East before viewing Heretic, but she’s great as the seemingly more simpleminded of the two girls. Like Barnes, Sister Paxton is not quite what she appears to be. East and Thatcher were both raised Mormon, so these roles must have been meaningful for them.

what, if anything, is Heretic trying to say?

The film is co-directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who also made the original A Quiet Place. It’s interesting to see them branch out into a completely different type of horror movie.

Heretic goes back and forth, sometimes seeming to have an anti-religious message while, at other times, appearing to agree with faith in the divine. I wish it had the guts to take a clear side. I enjoyed how the movie humanizes the missionaries. These are well meaning girls, not arrogant preachers threatening eternal damnation.

The title of this movie is interesting. At first glance, Mr. Reed is the obvious “heretic” of the film. By the end, any of the three main characters could be considered heretics. Of course, it depends on one’s perspective. What constitutes a heretic, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.

The ending is wildly over the top. Maybe Beck and Woods feared that they had made their movie too cerebral and decided to add in a bunch of conventional horror elements in the third act. It’s an implausible conclusion that seems almost like it belongs in different movie, but it’s fun to see Hugh Grant go full-on crazy.