Religious discourse occupies a unique space in the modern world because its prevalence tends to correlate with where you live and who you're surrounded by. Faith meaning anywhere between everything or nothing at all depending on who you elect to talk to has created this chasm that not only applies in how much discussion about it is being had in the world, but the very manner in which its discussed. Psychological horror/thriller Heretic dares to ask its audience something that almost no one bothers to ask anymore: What is the purpose of faith, and can your beliefs be challenged by your life experience or an outside force?
This question-driven exploration of faith manifests in the story of Mormon missionaries Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and their visit with a man named Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) at his home with the hopes of converting him to their Church. Reed is a hardcore theology buff who is eager to discuss religion and the nature of belief with a pair of people that have dedicated their lives to spreading the gospel of The Church of the Latter-day Saints. What starts off as a somewhat awkward but ultimately good-natured conversation slowly becomes sinister when the Sisters realize that Reed's "wife"-who he said was is in the other making a blueberry pie when they first arrived-doesn't exist and all of the doors in his house are locked on a timer that they don't have to access to. What Reed wants from these women is simple: He's put together a game to put their belief in a higher power to the test and the path they choose will dictate whether they leave his house safely or die. Terrified and conflicted on what direction to go in, Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton must lean on each other if they wish to make it out of Reed's house of faith-testing horror with their lives.
What's really cool about Heretic is that its writer/director tandem Scott Beck and Bryan Woods waste no time getting to the suspenseful hook. Reed's ominous lectures about religion, subtly disorienting camerawork that mirrors the feeling of the walls closing in on you and sound design that turns benign domestic sounds (ticking clocks, creaking doors, footsteps) into something viscerally sinister mimics the increasingly claustrophobic dread Barnes and Paxton are feeling as they realize their safety may be compromised. This feeling of palpable discomfort is parlayed into a pretty terrific second act where their fears are confirmed in ways they probably didn't even imagine as the threat stars to veer from vague hypothetical to something terrifyingly real. It's basically everything that a contained cat-and-mouse thriller should be and the fashion in which it marries its existential questions about religion with traditional horror filmmaking practices is really seamless.
Of course, a chamber piece wouldn't really work if it weren't for the contributions of its cast and the actors in Heretic all deliver in a major way. Grant is having a ball playing this kind of eccentric, somewhat pretentious maniac who cruelly preys on the vulnerable in a similar fashion as the religious figures he rails against do and both East and Thatcher do great work by turning the baked-in assumption that these characters are meek, polite-to-a-fault women on its head with the quiet strength and resilience they show in the face of grave danger.
Eventually, Heretic loses its way during a final act where it's ideas about things such as idealism vs. truth in faith and what drives people to believe or not believe in God come together in an unsatisfying, arguably silly manner that snuffs out quite a bit of the strength of the film's riveting opening 2/3's. Still, this is a really solid bounceback project for Beck and Woods after the misguided 65 and an exceptional advertisement for any filmmaker that is seeking the services of any of these three gifted actors for a future project.
Grade: B
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