Heretic Review: Faith, Fear, And The Art Of Talking In Circles: Hugh Grant Shines |
Title: Heretic
Directors: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Cast: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 3.5 Stars
In Heretic, directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods take a sharp left turn from the creature-feature thrills of A Quiet Place into murkier, dialogue-heavy terrain. Their latest effort trades jump scares for theological sparring, pitting two Mormon missionaries against Hugh Grant’s devilishly affable Mr. Reed in a battle of wits that teeters between gripping and tedious.
The setup is deceptively simple. Sisters Paxton (Chloe East) and Barnes (Sophie Thatcher), eager but unequally skilled evangelists, find themselves ensnared in a remote house with Reed, a professorial oddball whose offer of blueberry pie turns out to be as insincere as his chirpy “Hellooo.” Grant, in an against-type performance, embodies a man whose genial exterior masks a labyrinth of sinister intentions. His sharp monologues and pop culture-laden takedowns of religion (Monopoly as a metaphor) land with an unnerving charm that Grant amplifies with his signature twinkling eyes and sly delivery.
But charm only takes you so far. The film’s taut first half, confined largely to a single room, crackles with tension, as Mr. Reed methodically deconstructs the missionaries’ faith. His arguments are clever, even persuasive at times, and Grant leans into the role with giddy relish. It is unsettling watching a seemingly innocuous man wield ideology as a weapon. Yet, as his motives unravel, the screenplay begins to overreach. The nuanced debate gives way to clichéd horror tropes, culminating in an over-the-top climax that feels more slasher flick than philosophical.
Heretic Review: Faith, Fear, And The Art Of Talking In Circles: Hugh Grant Shines |
The dialogue-heavy script is both the film’s strength and Achilles’ heel. When the exchanges are sharp, the film captivates. But Reed’s relentless monologues eventually wear thin, straining the viewer’s patience. It’s one thing to challenge Mormonism—or organized religion at large—with pointed satire; it is another to bludgeon the audience with half-baked analogies. By the time Reed serenades the missionaries with Radiohead’s angst-filled anthem Creep, the novelty has worn off, leaving behind a faint whiff of self-indulgence.
Fortunately, the performances anchor the film. Thatcher’s Sister Barnes exudes quiet intensity, a skeptical edge that sharpens as the plot thickens. East’s Sister Paxton, initially the more naïve of the duo, undergoes a compelling transformation as the stakes escalate. Together, they make formidable foils to Grant’s verbose antagonist, imbuing their characters with resilience and depth that the script sometimes lacks.
Visually, Heretic is arresting. Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung turns Reed’s house into a maze of shadows and oppressive angles, the perfect stage for this psychological tug-of-war. The claustrophobic framing underscores the missionaries’ mounting dread, while the stark lighting accentuates their moments of defiance.
Still, for all its lofty philosophical aims, the film stumbles to deliver. The film tries to balance a cerebral critique of dogma with the tension of a thriller but doesn’t fully embrace it either. The outcome is a genre-blending effort that provokes curiosity more than it delivers fulfillment. By the end, you may not find your beliefs shaken, but you’ll definitely reconsider taking pie from a stranger.
