Heretic (USA, 2024)

Heretic came to streaming just too late for my 2024 October Horror Movie Challenge. It looked very much like my kind of thing, however, so I decided to save it for this year. I’ve been a sucker for most of A24’s forays into horror, and Hugh Grant’s recent career has been remarkable.

The only downside of saving up films for my OHMC reviews is avoiding spoilers. Mercifully, I managed that this time and was able to go into Heretic knowing little beyond the basic premise. Having seen it now, I’m not sure if the twists and revelations are that exciting, but let’s save that for the verdict section.

Heretic is currently streaming on Prime Video in the UK.

Synopsis

Sister Paxton, an apparently naïve young missionary, is accompanied by the slightly more worldly Sister Barnes as they visit people who have expressed an interest in the Latter Day Saints Church. When they arrive at the home of Mr Reed, a disarmingly charming middle-aged man, he invites them in, excited to hear what they have to say. The missionaries are initially wary, as they are not supposed to be alone with strange men, but Reed assures them that his wife will join them once she has finished in the kitchen.

All this, of course, is a ruse. While Reed very much wants to discuss theology, he turns out to be just as much of an evangelist as the missionaries are. Reed reveals that he has found the one true religion and wishes to convince his guests of this. Of course, as this is a horror film, his argument becomes significantly more intense and interactive than either of the women may have anticipated.

But just what is the one true religion? How much does Reed even believe his own rhetoric? And why does his approach to evangelism involve pies?

General Thoughts

Heretic is a tense film. While it eases into the more overt horror elements with a talky first act, the sense of dread is palpable from the moment the missionaries arrive at Mr Reed’s house. The gloomy lighting, minimal furnishings, and escalating series of minor warning signs build into a profound sense of menace long before Reed tips his hand.

Even when Reed does accelerate matters, he does so through insinuation and illusory choices, artfully herding his prey to where he wants them. The term “gaslighting” has been so diluted as to become meaningless, but what Reed does here is the best example I’ve seen on screen since Midsommar.

There are also some light touches. The back-and-forth between Mr Reed and the missionaries is full of barbs and witticisms. Sister Barnes, in particular, gives as good as she gets. Some of the conversation between the two women is also pretty humorous, especially in the opening scene where they discuss sex in an endearingly stilted manner.

For me at least, the meat of this film is the increasingly fractious discussion of the nature of religion. Mr Reed’s arguments are compelling ones, and while I often agreed with them, I was cheered whenever Sister Barnes would point out a factual inaccuracy or rhetorical trick. It stopped the film from feeling like the worst kind of smug polemic and, ironically perhaps, gave me the impression that the screenwriter was engaging in these matters in good faith.

Verdict

For the first three quarters of Heretic, I thought I might have found my film of the month straight off. While I haven’t written it off yet, I have such mixed feelings about the ending that it probably won’t make my top three. The ideas explored were interesting, and I like the resolution on an intellectual level, but I’m not entirely convinced it pays off either as a story or emotional journey. Given the build-up, it may not even have been possible to have an ending that wasn’t a let-down. Like Mr Reed himself, the film seems to promise more than it can really deliver.

That one complaint aside, Heretic is remarkable. It is an intimate, claustrophobic film that relies more on dialogue than shocks, yet manages to be deeply unsettling. This places so much of the film’s success in the hands of the three leads. All of them are terrific, but Hugh Grant is the standout. The man possesses an almost unnatural degree of charm, and Heretic uses this to devastating effect. While there is little doubt from the outset that Mr Reed is up to no good, his presence is so compelling that we want to follow him wherever he plans to take us. It’s hard to imagine the film working as well with any other lead.

So if you’re in the market for something thoughtful, insidious and creepy, you could do a lot worse than Heretic. Just be prepared to enjoy the journey more than the destination.

The October Horror Movie Challenge

Please do join in and share your own thoughts with us about this or any other films as the month goes on. You can usually find us on BlueSky, Reddit, Discord, or lurking in the dark corners of your home.

If you would like to play along at home, my provisional selections are:

Heretic (USA, 2024)
The Sadness (Taiwan, 2021)
The Uninvited (USA, 1944)
The Lodge (UK/USA, 2019)
WolfCop (Canada, 2014)
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czechoslovakia, 1970)
The Monkey (USA, 2025)
Sister Midnight (India/UK, 2024)
Roadgames (Australia, 1981)
Nightmare City (Italy, 1985)
Dangerous Animals (Australia, 2025)
Dead Talents Society (Taiwan, 2024)
Winterbeast (USA, 1992)
Byzantium (UK/Ireland, 2013)
The Ugly Stepsister (Norway, 2025)
A Page of Madness (Japan, 1926)
Heart Eyes (USA, 2025)
Grafted (New Zealand, 2024)
Arrebato (Spain, 1979)
Hatching (Finland, 2022)
Abigail (USA, 2024)
Ganja & Hess (USA, 1973)
The Devil’s Bath (Austria, 2025)
Pieces (Spain, 1982)
Infested (France, 2023)
Best Wishes to All (Japan, 2022)
A Cat in the Brain (Italy, 1990)
Enys Men (UK, 2022)
Creature From the Black Lagoon (USA, 1954)
Perewangan (Indonesia, 2024)
Bring Her Back (Australia, 2025)

A Final Note

If you have been enticed here by these posts, please do look around at some of our other film reviews. We also have a podcast, called The Good Friends of Jackson Elias, which occasionally covers horror films. If this appeals, you might want to check out some of the following episodes.