The following contains spoilers from 2024’s Heretic.
Control is key in any great thriller, and Heretic masters it to the Nth degree.
What begins as a garden-variety horror setup—two young women lured into a seemingly charming man’s basement—delightfully subverts some of the horror genre’s most worn out tropes, backdropped against and a madman who seems to spend far too much time on Reddit and themes of hypocritical, self-serving religious fanaticism.
What Is the Heretic About?
The story in Heretic involves 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 in by the rain and the promise of a freshly baked pie from his unseen wife, Mr. Reed starts to reveal an unnerving familiarity with the Book of Mormon and the church’s history, hinting that he knows more than he lets on.
As the conversation grows increasingly uncomfortable, the women realize they’ve been trapped in his home, trapped in a chilling game, one designed to challenge their faith, of course.
Writers and directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have crafted an inescapable maze, where every frame heightens the tension, emphasizing the women’s dwindling resources and the suffocating environment as Mr. Reed rants about the supposed falsehoods of all religions.
That’s not to say that Mr. Reed isn’t a religious man. On the contrary, he believes in the one true religion with an unwavering dogmatism.
The Sisters women must endure his terrifying, college-seminar-style lecture and menacing behavior to uncover his “truth”—presumably because the only way he could get anyone to listen to his madness and overestimation of his own grasp on reality is by holding them captive.
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Heretic‘s Contrived Ending
Mr. Reed’s behavior and mannerisms upend the usual believer/non-believer dynamic, as he forcibly corners the women, determined to expose unsettling “truths” about something they cherish.
Mr. Reed arrogantly explains how Joseph Smith used revelations to adjust the church’s doctrines to match his personal desires, alluding to his own theories on the roots of religion.
Unfortunately, with just a hint of critical thought, the movie’s twist becomes apparent to viewers well ahead of the reveal.
While Sister Barnes reinforces her belief in religion and challenges Mr. Reed’s unhinged comparisons between faith, board games, and pop music, Sister Paxton comes across as naive, easily falling into the traps he sets.
As Sister Barnes stands firm in her religious beliefs and questions Mr. Reed’s absurd analogies, Sister Paxton’s naivety makes her an easier target for his mind games. After all, Barnes chose to become an LDS member—Sister Paxton was born into the faith.
However, Sister Paxton’s character undergoes the greatest character arc in the film. But 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.
Heretic Falls Apart When You Think About It
The narrative starts to fall apart once you start asking questions: character development falters, the “true religion” reveal is questionable, and Mr. Reed’s motivations remain frustratingly unclear.
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. But the film doesn’t explore this concept beyond its simplistic depiction and exploration of faith.
The Saviors of the Movie
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.
Despite strong performances and a unique premise, Heretic falters due to inconsistent character development and glaring plot holes.
Still, it’s a messy good one-time watch, even without enough substance to leave viewers feeling enlightened by the one true religion.
Heretic simply surface-level entertainment, and audiences shouldn’t go into it expecting revelations.
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