Heretic (2024)

Film of two halves - Heretic review by PD

“Heretic” opens with an unusual table setter: two young missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are discussing condoms and why some are labelled as large even though they’re all pretty much a standard size. “What else do we believe because of marketing?” one asks the other. That line will echo through the film, a stimulating discussion of religion that emerges from a horror movie wrapper. Despite a second-half slide and feeling decidedly unbalanced as a result, this is the rare film that combines lots of squirting blood and elevated discussion of the ancient Egyptian god Horus.

Our two church members are wandering around trying to covert souls when they knock on the door of a sweet-looking cottage. Its owner, Mr. Reed, offers a hearty “Good afternoon!”, welcomes them in, brings them drinks and promises a blueberry pie. He’s also interested in learning more about the church. So far, so good. Mr. Reed is, of course, if you’ve seen the poster, the 'baddie' played by Hugh Grant, who gradually reveals that he actually knows quite a bit about the Mormon religion — and all religions. “It’s good to be religious,” he says jauntily and promises his wife will join them soon, a requirement for the church. Writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood thus set us up for an unexpected and thoroughly engrossing theological debate, with Mr. Reed not unlike an earnest professor of comparative religion set against two naive missionaries armed with talking points who are hiding their own doubts. Mr. Reed knows exactly where the weak points are and thrusts in the philosophical knife. “How do you feel about awkward questions?” he asks before tackling the church’s stance of polygamy. “Yeah, it’s sketch, for sure,” East’s Sister Paxton finally admits. Soon the discussion turns on which religions are marketed better. Mr. Reed is, after all, facing a pair of walking and talking advertisements for Mormonism.

So beautifully constructed and acted in the first half that we don’t really notice at first when it slides into more of a horror film (you might be a step ahead of the missionaries, but not by much). But Beck and Wood take this fascinating premise as far as it can go before it becomes a rather airless stage play. By the halfway point, the audience who came for the horror rather than the lectures on religious marketing get what they came for, but unfortunately as a result the plot by the end is a murky, muddled and disturbing mess.

Grant, with his comfy cardigan and candles, is the film's draw, but there’s great work by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East as the missionaries, who convey very well indeed the position of trying to not act scared even when they’re terrified. And one of the film's strengths is that they’re no mere ingenue targets — they often bite back with worthy criticism of Mr. Reed’s beliefs through shaking teeth. All in all a bit of a mixed bag but well worth a look.