Heretic - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

When it comes to modern “elevated” horror, any cinephile will tell you the genre is pretty much synonymous with A24, the studio known for smaller arthouse films. The studio gives up most of the old school slasher and blood flowing gore fests in favor of slower, unsettling, sometimes scratching your head brand of scary, as you try and figure out what exactly the film is trying to say. Well, the new A24 horror film to drop in theaters is Heretic, starring Hugh Grant, who utterly nails this creepy and unsettling performance. The former romcom headliner has taken the route of smaller character roles and slides right into this new film as a man of . . faith . . who has mysteriously requested more info from the local Mormon church. Two young women are dispatched to provide this curious soul with information on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Full disclosure, formerly being a person of faith and affiliated with a religious organization that’s ideology is a stones throw from the Mormon church, I found this film and especially the screenplay to be completely engrossing. That being said, the religious stuff aside, this film offers a lot of good thrills and a few good jump scares and it winds its way around the scripts twists and turns. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why this film didn’t release a couple weeks ago before Halloween in time for spooky season. There’s no need to be a Heretic, just have faith that this is one of, if not the best psychological horror film of the year.

SYNOPSIS - We begin our preaching campaign with a scenic shot of a rocky cliff, if I’m not mistaken, and according to some

signs we spot later, we’re at Boulder Crossing, outside of Colorado, U.S.. As the camera slowly pans back away from the cliff, we begin to hear Sister Paxton (Chloe East) say,

“I heard Magnum condoms are basically the same size as regular condoms”. The camera continues to retreat as two girls heads come into view, we see them from behind, Sister Paxton is talking to her comrade, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher), eventually we see they’re sitting on a park bench. Paxton makes the point that marketing is misleading before proposing the fascinating question, “Like if you grew up thinking the Book of Mormon is fake, you probably believe it was fake because that’s what you were told.” More to come on that concept later. But then the girls continue into a discussion of sex, not in a derogatory way, but Paxton, a bit of a chatterbox, respectfully describes a pornographic video she watched while Barnes listens, albeit slightly uncomfortably. They then talk about how many people they’ve converted on this preaching tour, comparing Paxton’s none, while Barnes admits she’s recruited eight or nine, to which Paxton emphatically responds, “Balls!”. While this is not a comedy, I found it quite hilarious how the script plays with these religious elements and handles a few of them in a lighthearted way and through a humorous lens. They end the bench conversation as Paxton asks her friend, “How has God shown you that the church is true?”.

We watch as the girls climb up a hillside, they haul their bikes up set after set of steps. Next they try and make conversation with people passing by as they walk down the street, but most are busy and just generally ignore their questions about Jesus. Back down the stairs they carry the bikes. Some young girls crossing a street ask to take a selfie with the preaching pair, which they agree to. But then one of the girls mockingly asks if they wear magic underwear before yanking Paxton’s skirt down to which she quickly pulls it back up in embarrassment. The scene cuts and next they’re walking their bikes up and lock them to the gate of a rural house. Paxton still wiping tears from her eyes from the humiliation of the scene earlier. As the girls begin to knock on the door, some rain has begun to fall, we watch the trees around them in the secluded yard start to be blown about by the wind. Barnes looks up and a shot of the sky shows some ominous weather approaching. After knocking again, some lights appear and disappear behind a clouded glass part of the door as someone moves around inside, but eventually the cheerful Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) opens up and the girls introduce themselves. The rain begins coming down harder and after a few minutes of conversing, he beckons them inside. They reluctantly accept the offer, but only because he explains that, “My wife has pie in the oven”, and she will be able to join them shortly. The pair comes in and find themselves in the living room, the girls remove their coats and Mr. Reed takes them, then leaves to hang them in another room. As he returns with a couple soft drinks and a lighted candle, the trio all sit down to chat. They converse for quite a few minutes, but after inquiring again as to the status of his wife with the promise of blueberry pie renewed, Mr. Reed leaves to check the status of said pie. The two girls amuse themselves with looking around the room and talking between themselves in his absence, the first warning sign that all is not as it seems presents itself when Barnes discovers the candle burning in the living room is scented. She sees the scent is Blueberry Pie. As Mr. Reed returns and their discussions continues, the warning signs that something is way off eventually become blaring red sirens. As the girls check the tiny windows and front door to try and find a way of escape, the game of cat and mouse ensues where the twist and turns lead the girls further and further into the trap their sinister host has prepared for them.

I have to give some serious props to the writer/director Scott Beck, who has worked on a pretty impressive slate of films this last decade or so. The conversation the film is interested in having, not just about religious philosophy and the deconstruction of some beliefs, but the reasons for people to have those beliefs in the first place, I found terribly engaging. Even if some of the discussions the characters have are quite generalized and dumbed down for those that aren’t super religious, being a former door to door preacher, I was pulled right into this story. With the movie pushing towards the two hour mark, the excellent script structure keeps progressively revealing more to us. Thus the pacing steadily picks up momentum, which makes the film play great to both general audiences and critics alike. The editing is tight, allowing moments of unease and dread to draw out sufficiently before cutting and moving on without unnecessary excess. This fun but thrilling film reaches it’s higher tier of horror with its combination of jump scares, which I usually don’t get caught by, but it got me multiple times, but also by being intellectually layered with its discussion on religion. The twists, turns and reveals are only enhanced by the stellar performances of its main three actors. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are both very good in their own right, but the work here by Mr. Hugh Grant is really exceptional. This is certainly among his best performances, I dare say it could be his best. The original score by Chris Bacon is also very good, although maybe a bit standard by horror movie fare with its eerie violin work and unsettling drumming that almost takes on a hypnotic tone through sections. This easily provides one of the best thriller/horror movie experiences I’ve had in the past couple years. Elevated horror is a tricky genre to stick the landing on. But when one does pull it off, at least as well as Heretic does, it’s hard to not put it among my favorite films of the year.

SUMMARY - This film is a lot of fun, even though I’ll fully admit, my circumstances and previous experiences made me lean into this one more than most others might. Even so, if you’re a fan of Hugh Grant and or the horror/scary movie genre, you’d be an absolute Heretic to miss sitting down, having a big slice of blueberry pie and catching this one on the big screen.