Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and sister Paxton (Chloe East), two young Mormon women, go door to door preaching the word of God. Usually, instead of “good morning”, they hear a few blunt words and a request to leave as soon as possible, or they become the butt of degrading jokes. However, at the last address on their list, in a lonely house outside the city, they are met with a seemingly pleasant surprise. Here, Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), who is very willing to theological reflections, opens the door to them. The man invites them to his house. It quickly turns out that he intends to convince the girls of his views on faith. Barnes and Paxton can’t back down. They have to play the madman’s game.
Reed comes across as a warm, understanding and calm middle-aged man. Only after closing the door and imprisoning the young Mormon women in her home does she reveal her true nature. He’s the guy from high school who, during a break after math, would start a tirade that, in his opinion, would refute all the world’s religions, and then be proud of himself for the rest of the day. An apparent intelligent who presents a few old-fashioned rules from internet forums as the only correct truth. An incel who hides his hatred of women under flowery speech. A guy who looks down on everyone until his arguments are refuted – then he resorts to violence.
Reed is such an exaggerated character that in the wrong hands he could be unbearable. Fortunately, Hugh Grant was cast for the role. And he plays with it like there’s no tomorrow. He brazenly charges, but never crosses the line that would make his character irritating. Instead, we keep waiting for Reed to return to the screen. This is also because Grant consciously uses the means that made him the king of British romantic comedies almost three decades ago. Even while brazenly mansplaining, he’s charming.
Unfortunately, this has a negative impact on the main characters. Barnes and Paxton are built on simple stereotypes. One is a rebellious brunette dressed in black with a dark secret who challenges Reed almost from the beginning. The second one is a naive blonde in a pink sweater who takes the rules of her religion literally, and even an amateur adult film she watches on the Internet weighs on her good heart. Thatcher and East don’t get enough material here to carve anything out. Not compared to a titan of charisma like Grant.
Reed also distracts viewers’ attention from another issue. The filmmakers play a game with the audience somewhat similar to the one the British forces on young Mormon women. Of course, the stakes are different – after all, it’s not about human life, but about two hours well spent at the cinema – but the means turn out to be similar. Just as Reed tries to cover the triviality of his theses with impressive words, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods behind the camera pretend that they have created a precisely constructed psychological horror film. What works to their advantage is not only the character of the antagonist, but also the extremely complicated intrigue he has created. Meanwhile, “Heretic” is a silly entertainment movie with pop theology.
The illusion is initially maintained thanks to the dosage of information. Reed’s motivations and behavior are both disturbing and interesting. However, as the details of his plan come to light, more and more question marks appear, and sometimes the hand opens itself and quickly flies to the forehead to announce with a loud slap that the concentration of absurdities accepted by the body has been exceeded. At one point, Reed points out to Barnes that she entered his house and continued a pleasant conversation, despite the disturbing signals he was sending. She simply ignored them to feel better for the moment. And it was probably hoped that the viewers would also turn a blind eye to numerous nonsense in the name of good fun. However, it seems to me that in places their tolerance for plot absurdities is severely tested.
Like Reed, Beck and Woods eventually overdo it, and their elaborate structure collapses like a house of cards. For a long time, “The Heretic” pretends to be a much smarter film than it really is. This does not change the fact that it remains engaging and effective for most of the viewing. And the viewer then has almost as much fun as Hugh Grant did with his role.
6/10
“Heretic”dir. Scott Beck, Bryan WoodsUSA 2024, distribution: Kino Świat, cinema premiere: November 22, 2024