Review: Heretic

Image courtesy of A24.

Although I'm not sure a movie about religion and control was exactly the remedy I needed after one of the worst weeks in American history, I have to give credit where it's due: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods' "Heretic" is a creepy and unsettling horror movie with a wicked performance by Hugh Grant and one of the spookiest villain's lairs of recent memory.

The film's setup is simple enough: Two young women from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) - show up at a semi-secluded house on a snowy night to spread to the good word. There, they are greeted by a man named Mr. Reed (Grant), who at first seems nice enough as he welcomes them in and makes promises of blueberry pie that his wife is making in the kitchen.

At first, the trio ponder theology through various lenses, from Reed's questions about the Mormon church's history of polygamy to a discussion of which is the best fast food franchise and how that relates to religion. But as Reed begins to act creepier, and the two young women realize that the front door is locked, they recognize that they could be in some sort of danger.

Reed shows the women two doors - one marked "belief" and the other "disbelief." He asks which is scarier: The idea that God exists and allows such suffering or that we might just be all alone on this floating rock out in space. One of the two doors, he says, will lead outside since the front door apparently can only be opened once per day.

There's an interesting point to be made during these discussions before "Heretic" turns into a full-fledged horror movie when Reed tells the women that they thought that his wife - who does not exist - was in the kitchen and that they chose to believe what they were told, even long after signs should have alterted them otherwise. Naturally, he compares their choice to that of believing in God before beginning a lecture, of sorts, on the numerous religions around the world and how close they are in comparison.

The film feels like an unholy blend of topics that Ingmar Bergman might have pondered in his heyday - namely, the role of religion in a world of horrors and suffering - and something similar to the "Saw" franchise. And what ultimately makes the film work is Grant's sinister performance as Reed and Thatcher and East's solid work as the two sisters.

The finale leans a little heavily on aforementioned elements regarding the two young women's faith - and a character seemingly revived from the dead momentarily could, perhaps, have used some rethinking - but this is an otherwise intelligent, moody, tense, and thought-provoking horror movie. Call it elevated horror or whatever you will, but there are few mainstream films - horror or otherwise - these days that tackle weighty subjects in such an engaging manner as this one.