A fascinating movie-long debate in the skin of a horror movie, Heretic does its best to ask big questions without settling for easy answers.
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There's been a lot of horror movies derived from religion. Just last year we had two barn-burning takedowns of fanatical faith that uses women's bodies as their battleground (The First Omen and Immaculate) and many of the genre's classics find solutions in faith (see The Exorcist). Which makes a ton of sense because if you encounter something that science cannot explain, that's a perfect time to dive into other powers beyond your understanding including god, angels, and demons. Questioning faith is fertile ground for horror movies as well. Because horror wants to look the most terrifying possibilities in the eye, we might want to discuss how faith reacts to said horrors. While the saying "they're are no atheists in a foxhole," has some merit, an easy retort would be "why do bad things happen to good people?" This conflict, between the believers and those that don't, is the basis for today's movie Heretic.
The Setup
The film centers around two Mormon missionaries, Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton, who are in England to spread the word of Mormonism and get some folks baptized. And they think they've found a great candidate in Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), a seemingly affable man who seems genuinely interested in the Church of Latter Day Saints, including the Book of Mormon. But it quickly becomes clear that Reed's fascinations and goals, go far beyond a few uncomfortable questions about the faith...
I feel like I might be the perfect audience member for Heretic. While I don't expound too much about my personal beliefs when it comes to religion and faith, I find myself somewhere in the middle ground between the hardcore atheist crowd and the faithful. Agnostic is probably the best description. Both of my parents are Protestant ministers and I've been around a number of wonderful faith-based communities that do good work for those in their congregations and beyond. And I'd also have to be blind not to see how fanatical faith can wreck individuals and societies caught in its worst impulses. That includes the Church of Latter Day Saints that has more monsters in its history that prophets (more on this later).
What all of this means is that I am the right kind of person to engage with a horror movie that's also a movie long back and forth about the merits of faith (hence the title).
The game being played is pretty straightforward. Our Mr. Reed is challenging the faith of the two young women unfortunate enough to step into his home with a series of contrived puzzles and choices. Like an atheist putting a Christian through their pedantic talky version of Saw.
And Hugh Grant is a great choice for this. I don't know what it is about Grant's late career renaissance embrassing baddie roles, but it seems to suit him really well. Like when his characters are certain and strong willed, as good villains are, it works so much better than his stumbling all over himself rom-com performances. Call it a stereotype, but starting off with Grant using a lot of British niceities and manners only the devolve over and over again throughout the film works really well as the danger/situation escalates for our put upon leading ladies.
The smartest thing the film does is make Grant's Reed genuinely unpredictable. We know he doesn't have good intentions, and everything he's saying has a terrifying air of movie certainty (i.e. he says the phrase "I've found the true god" multiple times), but that doesnt mean we know what's behind Door #1 or Door #2 (a metaphor Reed makes literal). Is this a trick? A test? What is the end goal? Only one way to find out. Gotta keep digging deeper into this abyss, again literally amd figuratively.
The second smartest thing the movie does is ensuring that our two female leads aren't idiots. Despite being enthusiastic missionaries, neither girl is so sheltered that they can't push back on Reed's lectures or somehow believe that Reed isn't a danger to them both. Sister Paxton tries to placate Reed, which makes perfect sense considering the power imbalance, while Sister Barnes is more forceful with her pushbacks. Neither one is unobservant or so blinded by faith that they can't see/sense what is happening.
So instead of being like a Saw movie where Reed is plying out these girls failures or sins, it plays more like a battle of wits with a peverse gamemaster who wants to prove God is a farce. It actually looks and feels like a twisty play linke Deathtrap or Sleuth, where the conversation and clash of ideas are the real appeal of the movie, with each reveal being more of a plot motivator or a suitable shock to keep things moving. Yes there are some solid visual bits that either escalate the tension, provide some character insights, or are just a fun visual, but this movie is all about the talking.
That said I do have a couple of notes/complaits.
The first is that I think the movie has one too many twists or plot beats and might've been better served shaving off about ten minutes. The final twenty minutes of the movie lack the same tension and punch of the first ninety and I think condensing that segment could help both with pacing the movie's ultimate feel.
The second part is...a potentially pendantic critique about making these two girls Mormon missionaries. One thing I'll note before I start is that the movie is not an endorsement of the Mormon faith or church. If anything the movie fits firmly in the "just asking questions" category and leaves its conclusions very open-ended about the existence of God and mostly leans on the idea that faith, done properly, is a comfort for those in need and sometimes a nice way to express heartfelt sentiments.
And I also know why the script made these girls Mormons. Unlike a lot of other churches, as the script notes, the Church of Latter Day Saints, sends young people out all over the world to gain converts. So having these two girls show up on Mr. Reed's door is a believable bit for the plot. There's a very small group of Christian groups that go out to evangalize door to door and the Mormons are probably the best known in Britain.
That being said.
I think choosing the Mormon church muddies the waters the movie is attempting to wade in. Because the film is often structured like a debate, you get a lot of back and forths about what the Mormon church advocates for and states as its core pillars. So Reed has some easy cannon fodder about why the Mormon faith is bad for the two young women in front of him. And they don't really have easy answers for that. They kinda waffle about how the misdeeds of certain Mormon men and leaders are anomolies. Which also isn't true. Because as much as Mr. Reed talks about the practice of polygamy and the anti-gay, anti-woman stances the church has taken, the screenwriters also don't seem to know the extent of the church's modern misdeeds. I'm aware that they consulted with Mormon friends and apparently Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are former Mormons themselves so I think the portrayals are well-intentioned, but also seem light compared to how hard they could go.
I think it would've been a bit more interesting to give Mr. Reed a faith that's harder to dunk on. Or at the very least, let the girl's expand upon what they actually believe versus what the core tenants of their faith are. Like they're here out of a sense of obligation sure, but they're also people with values that expand beyond the church says.
I think it would've been a bit more interesting to give Mr. Reed a faith that's harder to dunk on. Or at the very least, let the girl's expand upon what they actually believe versus what the core tenants of their faith are. Like they're here out of a sense of obligation sure, but they're also people with values that expand beyond the church says.
That's not to say there aren't people or faiths that are all about doctrine. However, I think a better challenge to Reed's worldview is a faith that isn't defined by doctrine. That is personal. That is defined by each practicing person. That can't be proven or easily refuted.
When I went through the confirmation process at my church, we were given a lot of information about "the things, we, the people of this church, believe." And even at these girls ages I never took it that literally. Because my faith was mine and I wasn't going to throw my weight behind something I didn't believe.
When I went through the confirmation process at my church, we were given a lot of information about "the things, we, the people of this church, believe." And even at these girls ages I never took it that literally. Because my faith was mine and I wasn't going to throw my weight behind something I didn't believe.
Then again, it's hard to complain about a movie that legit made me think and wonder about the values and drawbacks of religious devotion and faith as a concept. The worst thing a movie like this could be is boring, and Heretic certainly isn't that.
The Verdict: Engrossing
A fascinating movie-long debate in the skin of a horror movie, Heretic does its best to ask big questions without settling for easy answers. 8/10
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