‘Heretic’ Review: A Sinister Game Gone Wrong

‘Heretic’ (2024)

Control is key in any great thriller, and Heretic masters it to the nth degree. What begins as a standard horror setup—two young women lured into a seemingly charming man’s basement—delightfully subverts genre tropes with deep religious undertones and a madman who seems to spend far too much time on Reddit.

The film focuses on two young Latter-Day Saints missionary women, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), who visit the home of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) in the hopes of converting him to their church. Lured inside by the rain and the promise of a freshly baked pie from his off-screen wife, Mr. Reed begins to reveal that he already knows a great deal about the Book of Mormon and the church’s history.

After an uncomfortable conversation, the women quickly realize he has trapped them in his house and forced them to play his sinister game, testing their faith to its limits.

Writers and directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have created a maze that seems impossible to escape. Every frame matters, establishing the limited resources and claustrophobia the women encounter as Mr. Reed preaches about the supposed falsehoods underlying all religions.

This isn’t to say that Mr. Reed isn’t a religious man. On the contrary, he believes in the one true religion, and the women must endure his terrifying, college-seminar-style lecture and menacing behavior to uncover his “truth.”

The filmmakers designed Mr. Reed to offend people of faith, portraying his behavior and mannerisms as the ramblings of a man determined to corner women and reveal "truths" about something they cherish. He mansplains that Joseph Smith used revelations to change the church’s beliefs to suit his lifestyle, hinting at what he believes is the source of all religion.

However, even a bit of critical thinking allows viewers to unravel the movie’s twist long before the reveal.

While Sister Barnes reinforces her belief in religion and challenges Mr. Reed's unending comparisons between faith, board games, and pop music, Sister Paxton comes across as naive, easily falling into the traps he sets. This is why Mr. Reed grows bored with Sister Barnes and her unwillingness to be talked down to. After all, she chose to become an LDS member, while Sister Paxton was born into it.

However, Sister Paxton’s character undergoes the most change in the film, yet her development baffles the audience. Her moment of realization feels dishonest to the character we’ve come to understand, making her journey feel unearned.

Beck and Woods seem skilled at writing themselves out of the narrative holes they create, a lesson they honed while writing A Quiet Place. However, the holes they dig in Heretic feel inescapable, forcing them to bend reality so much that it breaks the audience’s suspension of disbelief. It’s as if they didn’t know how to justify Sister Paxton’s enlightenment and hoped viewers would suspend critical thinking to go along with it.

The greatest flaws in the story appear when you start pulling at its threads: character development doesn’t hold up, the reveal of the "true religion" raises questions about how the town hasn’t noticed missing people, and Mr. Reed’s motivations for imprisoning the women remain frustratingly vague.

When the credits roll, you can’t help but wonder what might have happened if Sister Paxton had begun to worship Mr. Reed’s religion. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t explore this beyond its central thesis on faith.

The saviors of the film are Grant, Thatcher, and the originality of the story, which feels ripe for TikTok and YouTube commentary breakdowns. In an industry dominated by franchise blockbusters, mini-majors like A24, the distributor behind Heretic, continue to champion indie horror movies with fresh ideas.

Hugh Grant continues to chew scenery, as he does in many of his performances, particularly in bizarre roles like those in cult classics such as The Lair of the White Worm.

Sophie Thatcher, cementing her status as a rising star in horror with roles in Yellowjackets and the upcoming sci-fi horror film Companion, captures the audience with her nuanced and cinematic performance.

Chloe East, while tasked with a role requiring greater range than Thatcher’s, suffers from a character written primarily to serve the plot. This puts undue pressure on a relatively new actress, leaving her performance uneven.

‘Heretic’ (2024)

Despite strong performances and a unique premise, Heretic falters due to inconsistent character development and glaring plot holes. It’s a messy good time, but there isn’t enough substance to leave viewers feeling enlightened by the one true religion.

Grade: C+

Heretic is now playing in theaters.