Heretic review – Challenging beliefs

Film Studies 101: Horror movies and thrillers always benefit from quiet. Silence builds apprehension, heightening audience reaction when it’s shattered. It’s a lesson taken to heart by writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, as the pair were responsible for scripting dystopian hit A Quiet Place, where any sound would get its characters eviscerated by nasty extra-terrestrials.

And yet, ironically for Beck and Woods, their latest effort, released under the prestigious A24 banner, draws its tension from near non-stop talk.

In Heretic, Sister Barnes (Yellowjackets’ Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) are two Mormon missionaries out following conversion leads from their Elders. With Sister Paxton especially desperate to secure a baptism, they end up at the remote house of genial intellectual Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), who invites them in to talk theology. Except, soon the young women realise they are trapped, and subjected to a terrifying stress-test of their beliefs.

Heretic continually challenges viewers’ preconceptions just as Mr. Reed challenges the young women’s faith. Here is a chilling cat-and-mouse game that is largely dialogue driven instead of hushed. You wouldn’t think debates about religion would have you holding your breath, but that’s the kind of rule-breaking psychological thriller that Heretic is. The same goes for its plot. Like last year’s Barbarian, Heretic veers off in unexpected directions, and adds handbrake turns – some gut-turning due to their visceralness – that can’t be discussed for spoiler reasons.

Heretic is unconventional and unpredictable, and fortunately right now it can be enjoyed without the over-hype that Longlegs received. Then again, Heretic benefits from a less stilted approach to its atmosphere building. It draws on recognisable situations like women’s socially-ingrained politeness overriding their survival instincts, and a villain that you could conceivably encounter in real-life. It’s the same reason that Dolores Umbridge is considerably more frightening than Voldermort in the Harry Potter series.

On that note, Heretic is elevated by the casting of Hugh Grant. The actor has played caddish figures in the past, such as Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones’s Diary, and in recent years he has filled the shoes of Dungeons & Dragons and Paddington’s more flamboyant bad guys. However, Heretic cleverly leverages Grant’s charming, avuncular persona to lead the missionaries, and the audience, to a disturbing place. And he does this while in a cardigan, serving soft drinks with a smile, and never letting his calm, considered demeanour slip.

While Grant is captivating on screen, Thatcher and the lesser-known East deserve shout outs as well, as the film is performance driven at its core, and their characters are far from naive damsels in distress. As Sister Barnes notes, they may not be able to match Reed physically, but they can cerebrally spar with him, earning some small wins as they counter his arguments and put him on a seething backfoot.

You can’t say that Heretic is subtle, but it’s smart and artful, shifting within its constrained scenario to defy genre tropes. Plus, it’s always refreshing to watch something where you don’t know where it’s heading. For a change the trailer hasn’t telegraphed every plot point. Ultimately, Heretic is a worthy addition to the stable of quality, unsettling A24 horror that includes the likes of The Witch, Hereditary and Talk to Me.

Heretic is in South African cinemas from Friday, 29 November.