Heretic is a new horror/thriller that follows two missionary members, Sisters Barnes and Paxton, who become subjects of a dangerous psychological game of theology at the hands of Mr. Reed. As Mr. Reed, Hugh Grant gives a devilishly evil performance that challenges not just the missionaries’ beliefs but also the audience’s perspective on religion and if there is one true set of beliefs. Supported by stellar performances by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, Heretic joined a well-rounded group of horror in 2024 and left me with a lot to think about days after viewing.
Hugh Grant is mesmerizing as Mr. Reed. So much of the dread of this movie stems from Mr. Reed and his beliefs. Mr. Reed is such a fascinating antagonist on a multitude of levels. On the surface, he is an older man who traps young women in his house and forces them to play his theological game. That alone is terrifying and I am honestly glad half of the movie is spent on Hugh Grant talking to Thatcher and East. Without ever using a single jumpscare, my skin was crawling and I could feel my breaths getting shorter.
Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East went up against a behemoth performance and matched it. Sisters Paxton and Barnes are incredibly sweet and compassionate, and you genuinely feel bad when the doors to the house are locked. While it gets argued later, they are only there because he expressed interest in joining their religion, not because they tried to force him to join. But what stood out is when Mr. Reed challenged them ideologically, they did not back down. Sister Barnes, (played by Thatcher), is shown at first to be the more confrontational one at first and pushes back on his logical fallacies. While it’s clear that Mr. Reed has done this before, it’s clear he’s not used to people pushing back on him. We see the growth throughout the movie of Sister Paxton, who deduces everything Mr. Reed has done and exposes his beliefs.
As the movie progresses we learn more about Mr. Reed’s motivations. He has devoted his entire life to discovering which religion is the true religion, the one to believe in. What he found is that like board games and songs, they are all iterations of each other, whereas Judaism is to Christianity what The Landlord’s Game is to Monopoly. Heretic does a fantastic job crafting its arguments about religion without ever crossing any boundaries.
Directors and writers Scott Beck and Bryan Wood have talked about how they wanted to craft a movie that dissects religion. They’ve told a story about how they had an experience in college shooting a short film about Armageddon and as they interviewed an older couple about the world ending, they said they knew the meteor was coming in a couple of months. They spoke about how they began feeling trapped in a seemingly safe environment. With that personal experience, I believe they captured those feelings perfectly. Their relationships with religion also helped craft such a nuanced story.
While we know Mr. Reed is bad, and as the movie progresses we learn just how evil he really is, what makes him a great antagonist is you can understand his perspective on religion. As a wise Jedi once said, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” I believe, now that I have had more time to stew on my thoughts, that the main takeaway from this movie is that religion is a set of beliefs that can’t be proven, and no one should be so sure of themselves that they impose their beliefs on others. All the events lead to a great moment where Mr. Reed asks Sister Paxton to pray for him, even though he doesn’t believe it means anything. She agrees that it won’t matter but thinks it’s good to think of others. There are other great moments about this and what Mr. Reed believes to be the ultimate religion.
Now, I will say, the first half of the movie felt much better than the second half. When the mask is off and the Sisters are trapped, the movie struggles to maintain its tone. It doesn’t add enough to the ideological conversation until the very end, and the “escape room” elements could have been built up better. I’ve seen some people say if this had taken some inspiration from Saw and had the Sisters go through trials of faith. There is an awesome scene with the “Belief” and “Disbelief” doors and the movie could’ve built on that better in this half. The ending is pretty open to interpretation and I expected nothing less from this movie.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Heretic is a phenomenal showcase of Hugh Grant’s range and the ascension of Spohie Thacter and Chloe East. The story is incredibly thought-provoking, and it creates intense moments without resorting to cheap jump scares. While the second half might lack from a stellar first, Heretic is a very good watch, adding another impressive movie to a great year for horror.
