37/20
Reed, played by Hugh Grant
Scenario
Two young religious women get drawn into a game of cat and mouse at a strange man’s house. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in Heretic, plus more modern women killing the horror game. The end credits music is a cover of « Knocking on Heavens Door » to the tune of Mazzy Star’s « Fade into You. » A nod to the fact that Radiohead’s « Creep » is a reiteration (due to the tune) of The Hollies’ « The Air That I Breathe, » mentioned earlier by Grant in the film. The end credits indicate that no generative AI was used in the making of the film. Featured in Movie Reviews: Heretic | The Best Christmas Spectacular Ever (2024). If, like me, you watched this movie because you wanted to see Hugh Grant play a creepy villain, you won’t be disappointed. Heretic is the story of two young Mormon boys who visit the home of Mr. However, things are not as they seem.
Now, as for Mr
At the beginning, you meet the two Mormons, Sister Barnes played by Sophie Thatcher and Sister Paxton played by Chloe East. In my case, I went into this movie because of the Hugh Grant show, but these two actresses held their own and both gave great performances. Since this movie only consists of 3 characters, it’s important that 2/3 of the cast are up to par, and they did! Sophie Thatcher’s character, Sister Barnes, I would say is the deeper of the two Mormons and the one with more experience. Chloe East’s character, Sister Paxton, who is the newer missionary who feels more like a believer than her counterpart and is eager to convert and spread the word of God. Both of their performances consist mainly of being terrified of Mr. Reed and thankfully neither falls into the goofball protagonist trope. Reed, played by Hugh Grant, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how Hugh Grant plays this character so well, because the way he acts isn’t innately creepy or scary in any way.
And he is
It’s more a case of context that makes Mr. Reed creepy. The way he delivers his dialogue is so calm and in a way like he’s giving a lecture. He’s trying to educate and enlighten the two Mormons. The way Mr. Reed grossed me out was the way he’s condescending and talks down to you. That and the fact that we’re in a weird, creepy house, where the lights are on a timer and the roof is leaking. Mr.
Reed just feels weird!
Above I mentioned the dialogue. Writers/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods wrote Heretic beautifully. Giving each character their own identity through their dialogue. Heretic had great cinematography with effective use of close-ups and panning shots. The sound design was simple but effective. The sound of creaking floorboards, dripping, and old metal locks and doors really accentuated the idea that this was an old rustic house. Now, this is a spoiler-free review, so I won’t discuss this part too much, but one aspect of the film that I wish they explored more was the idea of the maze. The scale figures and maze appear on the movie’s poster and trailer, but they aren’t that prominent in the film.
But what was there was simple and effective
So, if you were expecting a horror movie with mazes, I would be disappointed. That being said, the set was pretty minimalistic, there wasn’t much to write home about. The key theme of Heretic is religion and belief. This film does a great job of showing both sides of the coin without feeling like it’s favoring or attacking one view over another. It handled that balancing act well, which is important, so as to not feel like it’s attacking its audience’s views or beliefs. I will say that I didn’t think the film was that scary. That doesn’t bother me much, but it was released close to Halloween and was advertised as a horror movie, so that may affect your enjoyment of the movie, depending on what you were expecting.