Heretic (2024)

The directing and screenwriting team of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods is responsible for the ongoing franchise, A Quiet Place. This is a trial by faith—two young women Mormon missionaries versus well-informed religious skeptic Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), home at his leisure. The young women knock on his door to ask if he has heard the good news of our savior Jesus Christ. He has indeed. It’s pouring rain. He invites them in. They can enter only if another woman is present. He says his wife is at home with him, baking blueberry pie. They cross the threshold. These young women don’t know it yet, but they are in big trouble. Mr. Reed says his wife, who is suddenly shy, will be with them shortly. The blueberry pie smells delicious but later they learn it’s just a scented candle. He confronts them, diplomatically, with awkward questions about polygamy. It’s all quite uncomfortable. Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) is defensive and reflexively tries to explain the Mormon position. It’s soon evident Mr. Reed has them trapped. The storm outside has grown more intense, with snow. The front door is locked and the key to their bike lock is in their coats, which Mr. Reed has taken and put somewhere. Sister Paxton (Chloe East) attempts to flatter and mollify him but he’s got them now. The main point of Heretic, of course, is Hugh Grant—with impeccable manners and stammering appeal (as always). His light-hearted bantering style morphs from charming to menacing though he doesn’t actually change that much. He’s just Hugh Grant, as we know him, but now full of religious thought and philosophy, and aggressive about it. As things get worse one of the victims cries, “Why do you do this?” With an answer that incidentally helps explain our present political predicament, he responds, “The question is, why do you let me?” Indeed. There’s some gore here, not much, but Grant typically makes the most of it. The basic idea seems to be the casting against type, turning everyone’s favorite British romantic lead into a monster. It’s fun to see Hugh Grant having so much fun, but we’re already seen this kind of religious debate many times in the movies (Dogma, First Reformed, Rapture, The Seventh Seal). Basically this one is for Hugh Grant fans and/or the religiously curious almost exclusively.