‘Heretic’ Review
Stars: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East, Topher Grace | Written and Directed by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Hugh Grant headlines this creepy chiller from directing duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, previously best known as the writers of A Quiet Place. The film gives Grant one of his best performances to date, but the script lacks the courage of its convictions in the second half.
Set in Colorado, the majority of Heretic takes place in a quiet place of a different sort, namely the remote hillside house of Mr Reed (Grant), a middle-aged, British-accented, overly polite and friendly individual who has arranged for a visit from two young Mormon missionaries, Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and the slightly more worldly Sister Barnes (rising star Sophie Thatcher, from Yellowjackets). When they arrive, they are enthusiastically welcomed inside, as Reed tells them he would be delighted to talk to them about their religion.
However, something feels a little off – for one thing, Reed tells them his wife is busy cooking a pie, but neither the wife or the pie ever appears, and the women are forbidden from being in a stranger’s house without a woman present. Sure enough, it soon becomes apparent that Reed is intent on testing their faith, drawing them into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, from which there may be no escape.
The first half of Heretic is enormous fun, as Beck and Woods take their time to reveal just what Reed is up to, the highlight of which is a lengthy illustrated lecture about how most religions basically feed into each other, using amusing pop culture analogies such as the development of Monopoly or the way Radiohead ripped off a song by The Hollies for Creep. Similarly, the drip-feed of the various reveals (the design features of the house, the existence of a scented candle and so on) is extremely effective, ratcheting up the tension and creating a genuinely creepy atmosphere.
The problem is that the second half of the film flounders a little by comparison, in that Reed’s ultimate actions and goals are a little disappointing, given all the build-up. To that end, the film takes a violent and gory turn that actually feels unnecessary, as if a studio executive had said, “Come on, we’ve got to have some violence in there somewhere.” The film’s general plausibility also takes a downturn at this point.
That said, Grant’s performance is a creepy delight throughout, comfortably carrying Heretic past its less successful moments. What’s especially enjoyable is the way he incorporates so many of his own familiar character tics that we’ve seen in countless other Grant performances, each of them taking on a sinister turn here.
Thatcher and East are equally good, navigating similarly sympathetic character arcs (the realisation of the danger they are in, what they do about it, etc) in subtly different ways. Thatcher’s ability to convey a wealth of information with the smallest facial expression is particularly impressive, while East has the more surprising turn, revealing unexpected inner strength.
The film is further heightened by some superb production design work (the house is genuinely creepy in and of itself) and a suitably tense score by Chris Bacon. In addition, cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung (Stoker, The Handmaiden) has some fun prowling the various interiors although there’s one bravura shot in particular that almost backfires, because it hints at a different level of mind-fuckery that the film ultimately rejects.
In short, Heretic is an extremely enjoyable chiller that deserves points for being so engagingly talky, but it doesn’t satisfy in quite the same way when all the cards are revealed and things get violent. Still, Grant fully deserves all the awards attention that’s coming his way, and the film is worth seeing just for that.
**** 4/5
Heretic is in cinemas now.
