(From l. to r.) Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher in a scene from Heretic.
HOLLYWOOD, CA (LA ELEMENTS) 11/11/2024 – What is the one, true religion? That is the question that Heretic, Hugh Grant’s latest movie, strives to answer.
Grant plays Mr. Reed, a seemingly kind and welcoming senior who invites two young Mormon missionaries, Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) into his home. All starts out well as the Sisters are initially drawn into a lively exchange about faith. Grant infuses Reed with an easy charisma that manages to convince Paxton and Barnes that he is hanging on to their every word. In a way he is, but what Reed is actually doing is studying them.
What starts out as an initially thought-provoking discussion about religion, devolves into a discussion about religion that tries to be thought provoking. Somehow board games and fast food make their way into a religious debate. “We’d have to talk about Taco Bell to talk about why we don’t talk about Taco Bell.” Yes, you read that correctly.
Things start to take a turn when despite repeated requests to have his wife join them, (the Sisters are not allowed to be alone with a married man unless the wife is present) no wife ever shows up. So, if Mr. Reed is lying about having a wife, what else is he lying about? Paxton and Barnes come to this awareness much too late. In a panic, they decide to leave. But Reed isn’t finished with them just yet. The door to his home locks and unlocks automatically on a set schedule. As it turns out, they will have to stay with Mr. Reed, at least until morning.
And that is when the nightmare really spins out of control. You see, all talk of faith and religion serves only to support Mr. Reed’s real obsession: the afterlife. But the only way to know for sure if an afterlife even exists involves suffering.
Despite the initial trust and naivete of the Sisters, once they realize that they are trapped, they put up a fight. And that is when a dark game of cat and mouse is set in motion.
Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place), Heretic has its moments of jump scares. However, it also has moments of a concerted effort to appear profound. An effort undermined at times by dialogue that is all over the place with referencing pop culture.
Heretic is a visually engrossing film thanks to award- winning cinematographer, Chung-hoon Chung (The Handmaiden). His camera work brings the audience uncomfortably close to the fierceness of a winter blizzard. A fierceness that illustrates how hopeless a plan for escape actually is. In yet another scene, Chung’s use of shadows and fleeting light enhances the true horror hiding in Mr. Reed’s home to maximum effect.
Heretic had its Los Angeles premiere at the AFI Film Fest on October 23, 2024.
Heretic
Directors Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Writers Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Cast
Hugh Grant Mr. Reed
Sophie Thatcher Sister Barnes
Chloe East Sister Paxton
Topher Grace Elder Kennedy
Cinematographer Chung-Hoon Chung
Production A24
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