Longtime writing and directing duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods had a massive hit when they co-wrote a screenplay with John Krasinski about a family trying to survive an invasion of extremely sound-sensitive alien creatures. Since then, they’ve continued writing—and sometimes directing—high-concept movies without ever matching the success of their initial breakout, A Quiet Place. Heretic is a bit of a departure in style, a small-scale horror/thriller released by A24, that proves the pair can’t quite shake their love of cleverness for its own sake.
To start, Hugh Grant is phenomenal as Mr. Reed. When two Mormon women knock on his door to preach conversion, his welcoming and bumbling British charm belies something sinister. Sister Barnes (Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (East) explain that the church dictates that for them to come in out of the rain there must be a woman present, but seem powerless to heed their ringing alarm bells when Mr. Reed claims his wife is just inside baking a blueberry pie. Once inside, Mr. Reed disappears into the house for extended lengths of time, paired with creaking house sounds and power outages, and when he returns he not only seems even more knowledgeable about Mormonism than the women, but he also asks odd and uncomfortable questions. When the two women finally realize they are the unwitting subjects of a strange game, it’s far too late.
The first act, the uneasy back-and-forth between Mr. Reed and the Sisters Barnes and Paxton, is where the film works best. The tension builds as Mr. Reed prods at the foundations of their faith, Paxton being the carefree, unbothered believer, and Barnes the more troubled, worldly disciple. It isn’t until later that the constant religious history lessons begin to feel like the film is trying to disguise a lecture as a decent thriller.
Heretic takes a few unexpected, and maybe unearned, turns, but the flaws are made less glaring by the talent and technique on display. Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets, Prospect) and Chloe East hold their own against Grant, and the cinematography and sound design coalesce into a palpable atmosphere of dread and intrigue, even if those feelings are resolved unsatisfyingly.
The film’s biggest weakness, as I stated in the first paragraph, is Beck’s and Woods’ tendency to ignore the whys and hows of ideas they find cool. Ultimately, Heretic is a fun thriller that falls apart the more things get revealed. Like Mr. Reed’s carefully constructed puzzle box of a house, the plot details don’t quite ring true. Though one thing that does ring true, one thing the film absolutely nails, is that sometimes the worst thing in the world is an older man lecturing you.
