Heretic (2024)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Heretic (2024) – S. Beck & B. Woods

I don’t think I’ve ever sought out a Hugh Grant film, but I’ve always found him an engaging personality. Here, in this horror movie from A24, he plays a contrarian character, Mr. Reed, who invites two young Mormon women (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East), doing their missionary work, into his house after they knock on his door to proselytize. Therein begins an in-depth discussion of religion that puts the women on the back-foot, as Mr Reed gradually reveals his cards (while remaining enthralling/ingratiating, if also creepy), and showing him to be disdainful of religion (not just Mormonism but more widely). Obviously, the girls worry that he is a predator (especially as his wife never materialises). Eventually, he offers to show his guests the one true religion, that he has discovered through careful study – and also through the words of a prophet that he has mysteriously on hand.  Did I mention that this is a horror movie? Writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (previously known for writing A Quiet Place, 2018) keep things creepy and tense (and often ambiguous) for much of the film, although as it proceeds, implausibilities in the plot start to accumulate. So, some suspension of disbelief (hah!) is required -- and even if the ending might be disappointingly typical (and the philosophical points never very substantive), the film overall is an enjoyable sometimes heady experience.