“Heretic” Review
Hugh Grant stuns with his villainous role in “Heretic”, a religious-themed horror film from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and released by A24.
Last year, I made it clear when I reviewed “65” that I wasn’t a fan. I felt that the creative concept wasn’t thoroughly explored and that the whole experience felt hollow which is a shame since I really like the duo that wrote and directed the film: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. After all, they’re two guys from Iowa who’ve worked on some excellent films including writing the screenplay for “A Quiet Place”. Fortunately, last year also saw the pair write the screenplay for the underrated Stephen King adaptation “The Boogeyman” with Mark Heyman and now the pair have made new strides as writers and directors with “Heretic”. With a limited setting, top-notch performances and writing and the always intriguing A24 distributing the film, “Heretic” not only lives up to the many great horror films in the production company’s filmography but also shows Beck and Woods’s talents on full display and working full-blast.
On a stormy day, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), two missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, visit Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), a man who’s expressed interest in possibly joining the Mormon faith. However, as their conversation becomes more uncomfortable and a series of red flags emerge, the pair discover that they’re trapped in Mr. Reed’s labyrinth of a house. In this domicile dungeon, Mr. Reed tells them that they are free to leave but they must put themselves through a test of their faith. Thus, the battle of wits is on between the belief of the Sisters and the disbelief of Mr. Reed.
With “Heretic”, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic maxim, “to make a great film you need three things: the script, the script and the script,” is on full display. Everything else has been stripped to the essentials. The setting is largely condensed to a single house, wonderfully designed by Phillip Messina, and the cast largely centers on just three people. This film thrives in its writing and the screenplay of “Heretic” is obscenely intelligent, to the point where other writers will be furiously envious of its quality. If “Heretic” doesn’t get some kind of recognition from the Academy Awards or the Golden Globes in the category of Best Original Screenplay, it will further display the frustrating bias awards season has against horror and other “genre films”.
In “Heretic”, Hugh Grant explodes off the screen with a deliciously menacing performance with his casting working wonders for the film. While I have been aware of Hugh Grant’s cinematic exploration of his dark side for quite a while (I absolutely loved his portrayal of Fletcher, a slimy photojournalist, in “The Gentlemen”), many people still associate him with his charming, romantic roles in films like “Sense and Sensibility”, “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, “Notting Hill” and “Love Actually”. To have Grant in this role is genius because his warm demeanor puts both the Sisters and us completely at ease only for the thought to slowly creep into our minds that something is wrong.
While Mr. Reed is bent on sowing doubt into the game of cat-and-mouse, Sophie Thatcher makes for a worthy adversary with her tough characterization. Despite Reed’s musings on faith being well-written and delivered, Sister Barnes’s retorts show that the power struggle is much more narrow than it seemed. Thatcher’s captivating performance, along with her work in “Yellowjackets” and “The Boogeyman”, is sure to make her an icon in the horror and thriller genres and has certainly made me excited for her upcoming role in “Companion”.
But if I were to pick the best performance in the film, I have to give it to Chloe East and her remarkable character development as Sister Paxton. At first, it seems like East is the more innocent of the pair and feels more like a doormat for Mr. Reed compared to her counterpart. If anything it feels like an extension of East’s role of Monica, the hyper-religious love interest of Gabriel LaBelle’s Sammy Fabelman, in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans”. However, like with Grant, Beck and Woods utilize this casting to the film’s advantage and twist her archetype, creating a character who develops this incredible sense of strength through this terrifying ordeal. Along with Sister Barnes, their pairing justifies why it's a battle of two versus one instead of one-on-one between Barnes and Mr. Reed. The casting is further justified since Thatcher and East were both raised within the Mormon faith.
Because “Heretic” is so effective in the simplicity of the scenario, Beck and Woods’s story doesn’t feel restricted. Instead, it’s allowed to freely explore the complicated subject of religion within the confines of this house. For the first half of this film, it largely consists of the three engaged in a slowly menacing conversation that is absolutely riveting. What “Heretic” has to say about belief and disbelief (the two doors Mr. Reed presents the missionaries which begin this tumultuous exercise in faith) is fascinating as are the film’s conclusions. If you’re looking for a film that slams organized religion, “Heretic” doesn't necessarily fall into that camp nor is it a celebration.
In fact, I found it funny that Sister Paxton mentioned “The Book of Mormon” (the musical, not the religious text) at the beginning of the film because I think that the Broadway musical, as well as the “South Park” episode “All About Mormons”, have quite a bit in common with “Heretic”. All of these stories feel constrained to their genre at first but all reveal themselves to have a similar and intelligent viewpoint on religion albeit all three tales take wildly different approaches. It also makes you wonder why the hell Trey Parker and Matt Stone haven’t directed (or at the very least produced) a cinematic adaptation of “The Book of Mormon”.
As a horror film, Beck and Woods are outstanding in their direction which keeps you in a chilling state of suspense, aided by the methodical editing of Justin Li and Chung Chung-hoon’s hauntingly beautiful cinematography that throws in the tight discomfort of his work in Park Chan-wook’s classic “Oldboy”. Like most A24 ventures into horror, from their dynamic slasher “X” trilogy to the dread of films like “Hereditary” and “Talk to Me”, “Heretic” is not only going to thrill you in the moment but you’ll be left pondering this film for quite some time.
