Movie Review: ‘Heretic’ | Moviephone
Hugh Grant in ‘Heretic’. Photo: A24.
Directed by Scott Beck and Brian Woods and starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East and Topher Grace, ‘Heretic’ opens in theaters on November 8th.
Related Article: Hugh Grant to star in ‘Heretic’, a horror movie from the writers of ‘A Quiet Place’
Initial thoughts
(L to R) Chloe East, Hugh Grant and Sophie Thatcher in ‘Heretic’. Photo: A24.
Scott Beck and Brian Woods, co-writers of the original ‘A Quiet Place’ and writer-directors of the dinosaur action thriller ’65 starring Adam Driver, return here to lead a much smaller horror story – but ‘don’t be fooled by its size. In its own sly way, ‘Heretic’ is quite a cerebral exercise, with a brutally good-natured Hugh Grant in the first two-thirds and a script that tackles the nature of faith and religion in provocative fashion.
Yet it’s still very much a horror movie, and it’s when ‘Heretic’ begins to unleash overt shock and horror that the film loses its way. Yet thanks to the work of Grant and his two co-leads, the film’s setting and much of Woods and Beck’s script, ‘Heretic’ is still a fun genre exercise with a diabolical edge.
Story and direction
(L to R) Co-director Brian Woods, Chloe East and co-director Scott Beck on the set of ‘Heretic’. Photo: A24.
Sister Burns (Sophie Thatcher) and Paxton (Chloe East) are two young Mormon missionaries in a small mountain town knocking on doors, knocking on houses asking for more information about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the two women — whose relative innocence is communicated in hushed tones by their uttering of words like “porno-graphy” — it’s a mostly depressing day of no response or brief exchange and closing the door.
So when the cheerful Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) opens his door to them as the rain begins to pour down, offering them tea and a slice of blueberry pie that his wife is making in the kitchen – with a receptive ear to their pitch – they welcome respite. told And after all, his wife is in the kitchen so it’s okay to have two daughters in the presence of an older man, right?
But it’s not long before the women – especially Sister Barnes – begin to suspect that something is amiss. Mr. Reed continues to make excuses for his wife not to go out with the pie, even as he politely begins to listen to their spiel and ever so slowly pushes them back. For each conversation they roll out about their faith, he responds with a critique of it, the conversation gradually expanding into the nature and history of religion altogether. And once he manages to lure them deeper into his home – a library of religious texts and art with two doors on the back wall like a grotesque game show – it’s all too clear that Mr Reed’s veneer of respectful, persistent good manners hides something far more sinister.
(L to R) Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in ‘Heretic’. Photo: A24.
In that respect, it’s spoiler territory, but what we can say is that for its first two-thirds, ‘Heretic’ isn’t your average horror film: it provides food for thought and intellectual exercise even as Woods and Beck slowly tighten up. Screws and thickens the confusion of fear that settles in the process within moments of the two girls entering Mr. Reid’s abode. Speaking of which, the set design here is great: as you’re drawn deeper into the house of missionaries, it slowly becomes one of those surreal haunted houses that looks much bigger and more labyrinthine on the inside than the outside.
Yet the directors also manage to make the proceedings increasingly claustrophobic: during their several verbal exchanges, the camera moves closer and closer to Grant’s face with each cut, until his features literally fill the screen to emphasize his growing control over the woman’s plight. Grant’s vague smile didn’t seem so dangerous.
It is only in the third act that the directors’ precision and control over their own story begins to loosen. While Grant, Thatcher, and East all remain on point, the story takes several turns into more conventional horror territory while making Mr. Reid’s endgame more elaborate and a little harder to swallow. We’re all for leaving things unexplained in horror movies — that’s what makes the genre work in many ways — but it ultimately feels like a lot of work for this one guy to make his single point.
the cast
(L to R) Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in ‘Heretic’. Photo: A24.
It’s easy to get into the joy of Hugh Grant’s work here, but let’s pay tribute to his costars first. Sophie Thatcher (known as a younger version of Juliet Lewis’ character in ‘Yellowjackets’) and Chloe East are convincing as two young Mormon women, full of unquestioning devotion to their faith, who are first eager to speak earnestly to Mr. Reed. Thatcher’s Sister Barnes is the more worldly of the two, and the more intelligent, while East’s Sister Paxton is a bit more naive, though it’s clear that both have lived largely sheltered lives up to this point. Both descend into terror believably, occasionally making less-than-intelligent decisions but not the kind of stupid mistakes that often throw you out of a horror film.
As for Grant, he’s just awesome. Modest to a fault, seemingly respectful of women (at least at first), and full of sparkling wit and good-humored mischief, he holds the screen at his most volatile (such as an impromptu performance of Radiohead’s “Creep”). Her youthful charm as the brooding, restless romantic lead is still in evidence, only Grant turns it into something darker and more venomous – however you have to listen to her, not only is she talking about her love but explaining her twisted worldview as if it’s okay. So charming.
final thought
Hugh Grant in ‘Heretic’. Photo: A24.
The argument at the center of ‘Heretic’ is a fascinating one that could provide fodder for post-cinema debate (we know which way we fall, but we won’t say much more than that). That in itself is a bit of a rarity in the current horror landscape, which (with few exceptions) has recently turned to generational or familial trauma as a source of terror, supernatural or otherwise, that permeates the stories being told.
If a more terrifying shock is what you’re looking for, ‘Heretic’ might try your patience. But Woods and Beck, along with their three leads, have created a mostly absorbing, if incomplete, thriller with plenty of creepy atmosphere. Even if it leans towards the finish line, ‘Heretic’ is an intellectual, psychological and theological cat-and-mouse game that is as funny as it is intelligent.
‘Heretic’ gets 7 out of 10 stars.
“Everything is a question.”
Showtimes and tickets
Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed, falling into his deadly trap… Read the plot
What is the plot of ‘Heretic’?
When two Mormon missionaries (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) get more than they bargained for knocking on the door of a pleasant older man (Hugh Grant), their interest in the religious pitch turns into something far more sinister.
Who is in the cast of ‘Heretic’?
- Hugh Grant as Mr. Reid
- Sophie Thatcher as Sister Barnes
- Chloe East as Sister Paxton
- Topher Grace as Elder Kennedy
(L to R) Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher in ‘Heretic’. Photo: A24.
