‘Heretic’ – Review
2024 has been a fantastic year for horror cinema, and there have been a great many curiosities and freaky presentations that have arrived on the big screen. One of the year’s most intriguing and anticipated releases has been Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’s Heretic…. and it’s an undeniably creepy watch.
Two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East) become ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse when they knock on the door of the diabolical Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). Trapped in his home, they must turn to their faith if they want to make it out alive.
The horror genre has always been a place for experimentation and has increasingly become a vehicle by which directors can experiment with far grander themes than audiences are normally used to. This is exactly what filmmaker Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the writer of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise A Quiet Place, have done here with Heretic, and the result is a tense, claustrophobic and unique take on the haunted house horror piece. Smashing religion and terror together in a taut 111 minutes, Heretic finds Mormon missionaries, confident Sister Barnes and timid Sister Paxton, arriving at the house of the mysterious Mr Reed (Hugh Grant) in an attempt to convert him to their faith. Invited inside by his genial personality, the narrative soon takes a turn into harrowing dread as Reed’s true intentions are revealed, and this watch will have you on the edge of your seat.
The idea of the unexpected is a key part of Heretic’s success as a horror experience, and it doesn’t get more unexpected than the casting of Hugh Grant as the murderous Mr Reed. Once the king of the ‘rom-com’, in recent years, Grant has worked to shift his performances in an entirely new direction, and he continues this with Heretic, his first-ever horror appearance. Appearing completely out of left field as Mr Reed, Grant presents an incredibly two-faced performance. There’s the inquisitive, eccentric, loud and slightly academic quality as his ‘public-facing’ persona as the character, which hides a sinister and dark soul who’ll do whatever it is to get what he wants and who finds an immense and sick joy in the games and puzzles he puts the Sisters through. In my mind, Mr Reed is almost like a psychopathic Mr Rogers, and Grant excels in his creepier moments. He revels in this unsettling feeling that he brings to the narrative, and audiences will definitely be put off guard.
For audiences, Heretic is a horror experience that will keep you on your toes, thanks to both its visceral horror and its intellectual curiosity. Its thematic examination of religion is a driving part of this, and there are parts in it where you’ll buy into Reed’s argument and where you’ll admit that ‘he’s got a point’. Beck and Woods have an innate understanding of the horror genre, and they use this to their advantage in shaping the film’s narrative and taking it in a direction that audiences may not expect. Audience members who are regular viewers of horror films will appreciate this, as this narrative shift in both plot and perspective keeps things interesting and tied with the thematic exploration of religion, and Grant’s sinister presence as Mr. Reed makes Heretic a very memorable watch, not to mention that it’s unbelievably funny, in the most inappropriate moments.
Heretic is a horror movie that brings a completely left-field approach to the genre and the experience of the audience, and you’ll be creeped out in the best way possible for those genre fans who want something different. This one definitely delivers.
Image: Roadshow Films
