What an extraordinary turn by Hugh Grant! In a jaw-dropping bit of contra-casting, the roughish cad, Daniel Cleaver, from Bridget Jones Diary, turns into the calculating Mr Reed in this thriller from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the duo behind the post-apocalyptic thriller, A Quiet Place.
The movie opens with Sisters Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Paxton (Chloe East) discussing the power of suggestion and how much we believe because we are told it is so. The two young women are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons. Barnes is the more assertive of the two while Paxton is diffident.
After a bunch of unproductive encounters, the two visit Reed, a middle-aged Englishman, who lives in a lonely house on the top of a hill and who has indicated his interest in Mormon beliefs. The weather turns and as the rain beats down with a threat of snow, the two young women are convinced to accept Reed’s hospitality, after he assures them of his wife’s presence (baking blueberry pie no less) when they say they cannot enter a man’s house unless there is a woman present.
Barnes quickly realises there is something wrong and when the two women try to leave, they get drawn into a cat-and-mouse game with Reed who seems hell-bent (pun intended) on showing Barnes and Paxton the one true religion.
For a movie with three characters, one set, and a lot of dialogue dealing with abstract concepts including faith, belief, organised religion and control, Heretic effortlessly keeps the tension ratcheted to squirm-worthy levels.
The gore is kept intentionally low and so when the violence happens, it is truly shocking. The cinematography is extraordinary — from the young women carrying their bicycles over steps going up and down, to the shot following a character running out of the basement through the miniature, they are beautifully composed and pregnant with meaning.
Hugh Grant, from left, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in a scene from “Heretic”
| Photo Credit:
KIMBERLEY FRENCH
While horror movie staples including the dank basement, the creepy, solitary house and the scary, smiling man are present, the true terror of Heretic comes from the challenging of beliefs. Reed is the patron saint of the shouty rationalisations of today. Half-truths and vague generalisations are propounded with the weight of truth. It is not chance that the first shot of the movie shows Paxton and Barnes sitting on a bench which has an advertising sign.
Heretic is extremely well-written, with each argument following clear logical steps, even when the facts they are built on are dodgy. And the acting makes the words flesh. Grant, whether he is quoting Voltaire or Spider-Man, drawing a line between the Christ child and The Phantom Menace, imitating Jar Jar Binks or singing Radio Head’s ‘Creep’, he fixes you with his glittering eye. Thatcher and East match up to him step for step with their determined faith and intelligence.
The final song as the credits roll — Thatcher’s mesmeric rendition of Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ on Heavens’ Door’ — is a reiteration of one of the themes of the movie: that nothing is original, from Monopoly to thoughts, songs or religion. A sly clap on the back for this uber original film.
Heretic is currently running in theatres
Published – December 13, 2024 06:31 pm IST
World cinema
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English cinema
