Heretic (2024, dirs. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods)

by Jack Martin | Nov 1, 2024

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 111 mins

UK Distributor: Entertainment Film Distributors

UK Release Date: 31 October 2024

WHO’S IN HERETIC?

Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East, Topher Grace

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (directors, writers, producers), Julia Glausi, Stacey Sher and Jeanette Volturno (producers), Chris Bacon (composer), Chung Chung-hoon (cinematographer), Justin Li (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A sinister man (Grant) subjects two missionaries (Thatcher and East) to his twisted view of faith…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON HERETIC?

Religion plays more of a role in horror than you might think. All those exorcism movies out there revolve around the concept of faith in a higher power, and is more often than not the very key to expelling the hellish demon from a person’s body. Others like Carrie and The Omen use prominent religious imagery and concepts such as crucifixes and the Antichrist as intimidating weapons or terrifying entities to fear. But rarely is religion itself the main focus of the horror, and given a lot of its dark and sometimes unsavoury history, not to mention the suspicious nature behind some of our most prominent faiths, it’s a surprise that only now are we getting a film that slices into it like a slasher villain stabbing its latest victim.

That would be Heretic, the latest film from writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods that swaps traditional scares for something arguably more sinister: a lesson in theology that incorporates board games, Radiohead’s song “Creep”, and even Jar Jar Binks. In other words, this isn’t your average RE class.

The film starts as a pair of Mormon missionaries, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), arrive at the home of a seemingly charming English gentleman named Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). He’s called them round under the pretence of learning more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but Mr. Reed proves very quickly that he’s more than caught up on the Mormon doctrine, as he is with practically all other religions. In fact, as he so claims, Mr. Reed has even found the one true religion, and intends to show his guests exactly what that is. Unfortunately, that also means trapping them inside his house and forcing them to play a twisted game designed to test their faith, as well as listen to his numerous sermons on the flaws and hypocrisies of religion as a whole.

Though technically classed as a horror, Heretic does surprisingly little that is genuinely scary – and that is meant as a compliment. Rather than subject the audience to a number of tired and predictable jump scares, or introduce an unexpected supernatural presence out of nowhere, Beck and Woods show that they respect their viewers more than the average horror filmmaker by leaning a lot more into the debate aspect of their script, which makes up more of the movie than one might imagine. That does mean you’ll be listening to a lot of monologues wherein Hugh Grant delivers one extraordinarily rehearsed TED talk on faith after another, which for some can feel a bit tedious, especially when on one or two occasions it rarely feels like the characters themselves are talking, and rather that they are just being used as mouthpieces for the filmmakers to voice their own theories and opinions on this complex subject.

Amazingly, though, it never becomes boring to listen to, partly because Grant is absolutely convincing at selling this maniacal doctrine to his captive audience. It goes without saying that Grant is a delight throughout this whole film, playing the role as menacingly charming as he did as the slightly less intimidating villain in Paddington 2, and in some of his extended pop culture-laden monologues – during which point he does, albeit too briefly, do a Jar Jar Binks impersonation – you can almost picture this character being an alternate universe version of his Prime Minister from Love Actually. His performance is so good here that you almost begin to side with him when it comes to this kind of argument about religious doctrine, until certain moments (some of which are quite shocking and make the film fairly unpredictable) solidify that you’re not really meant to be rooting for this raving heathen.

Fortunately, this isn’t a case where a great performer like Grant, and by extension his two equally impressive co-stars Thatcher and East, elevate the shaky material, because despite its occasional missteps Beck and Woods’ script is already pretty strong to begin with. Firing on a lot of intellectual cylinders, the screenplay dives into balanced conversation about what it is to believe wholeheartedly in something, regardless of whether or not there is strong evidence to back up its very existence. It also gets into why some people would choose to have faith in the first place, which may include being brought up in religious families or turning to religion in the wake of tragedy, but in its own twisted way Heretic calls out the very real dangers of becoming so consumed by the practises of their faith that it dictates every aspect of their life, like some form of mind control that they cannot shake off. Mixed with their invigorating and stylish direction, Beck and Woods manage to inspire legitimate debate among their audience as they explore these wide topics within their central theme, and as the viewer comes away with some disturbing ideas and imagery stuck firmly in their heads.

For horror fans expecting something more traditional with the genre, they might not feel entirely satisfied. As stimulating as the overall writing may be, it is a very dialogue-heavy film that can often overshadow its own grim environment with heavy monologuing about things like religion, which can sometimes distract from the few parts where you are meant to feel genuine terror. There’s also a brief section involving Topher Grace as a fellow Mormon that does serve a mild purpose, but is ultimately given more screen time than something this inconsequential should have been given, and that can take you out of the more contained viewing experience. Additionally, the ending raises some questions, many of which are left intentionally ambiguous but do carry certain elements that perhaps needed some kind of logical explanation.

Though not perfect, Heretic somehow makes learning about religion quite fun, without telling you what you should or shouldn’t believe in by its end. After all, it would have failed in some way if you knew one way or another.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Heretic is a twisted but entertaining deconstruction of religion that sees duo filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods fire on all intellectual cylinders with a script and direction combo which foregoes traditional scares in favour of thoughtful debate, and gifts Hugh Grant with one of his most devious roles to date.