Heretic Movie Review

“Heretic” is a harrowing visit with a demented version of Mr. Rogers — someone who has that soothing soft-spoken charm and demeanor, plus the spot-on cardigan sweater. But behind the warm and cozy living room with the scented candles there exists a very different agenda. After a toxic session of “mansplaining”, the evil intentions become clear…

There are two female missionaries from the LDS church. It is Sister Barnes (played by Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (played by Chloe East). There was a person who wants to learn more about the church, and he will be the final stop for the day. They find the remote house up on some high hills. When they get there, they lock up the bikes and go to the front door. They are greeted by a charming Mr. Reed (played by Hugh Grant).

The young women are ready to tell Mr. Reed all about the church. But they would need to have another female in the room when they talk to Reed. He says, no problem — but my wife is very shy, and she is busy baking pies in the kitchen. That seems OK, because they can smell the blueberries from the other room. So, they come in and start to talk to Mr. Reed. He seems very anxious to ask details and get into depth on the church history.

Mr. Reed turns the tables on the two missionary Sisters — Paxton and Barnes. He gets into much more personal type questions and goes into a deep history of the Mormon Church. He has obviously studied up on a lot of this before. He goes off on tangents about comparing religious organizations as opposed to comparing fast food joints.

He makes the point that for the most part — they all serve the same stuff. But then each different outfit has a distinct look and feel to it. Same thing, he says, with every church. Each one says they are the “One True Church”. They cannot all be correct, right?

He has left the room for a while, and the two ladies are wondering — where is Mrs. Reed? The rules state that they must be with at least one other grown female, if they are talking to a man alone. Mr. Reed seems very harmless, and with the oversized sweater and glasses he looks like he would not harm a fly.

But he calls from the back of a dark hallway. The front door is locked and cannot be opened from the inside. If you women want to leave, you can pick up your coats in the den and exit out the back door. Not creepy at all, right?

Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton follow down the unlit hallway. They are asking Mr. Reed about Mrs. Reed. But his non-answer says it all. Did they notice the scented candle that smells like blueberry pie, baking in the oven? Once they are all in the large den, Mr. Reed pulls out the big guns.

He goes into his massive long talk about how all things are just copies of copies. He explains about ‘The Landlord Game’, and ‘Monopoly’, with all of its versions. He touches on various bands — such as ‘The Hollies’, ‘Radiohead’, and Lana Del Ray. But none of these things are connected, right?

Mr. Reed is either talking at such a high level that his words are exquisite threads of interwoven logical brilliance. Or maybe, they are more like a stupefying data dump of disconnected discourse. Both Paxton and Barnes know now that they are in over their heads and deep in trouble. If he would just let them out the door – then they could get back to the front of the house to where they locked their bikes.

Sure, you can get out of the house. But Mr. Reed is again playing mind games. There are two doors at the back of the large den. On one of the doors he writes “belief”, and on the other door he writes “disbelief”. After all his lectures about what organized religion actually is and what it had done to the world — he wants both of them to make up their minds. Do they have belief, or not? That certainly cannot be a trick question, right?

Paxton has been raised with a different religion as she grew up. She was put into a Mormon family much later than Barnes. So, Paxton has a more vocal approach to dispute the crazy things that Mr. Reed has been saying. If he wants to have both of these women doubt the faith of their “One True Church” — she will play along with that game.

Barnes also knows that Mr. Reed might a crazy loon — but she is not sure she can doubt what she has grown up with. But the two of then eventually settle on which door to select. They know that there cannot be anything disturbingly insane through that door, and down the dark stairwell. And then into the locked off basement.

These two Mormon missionaries have now gone from the frying pan into the metaphorical fire. Mr. Reed, with his high-minded and profound-sounding rhetoric is shown to be nothing more than a… what? Is he a kidnapper, or a serial killer?

Or is he a cannibal or a cult leader? Is he a fake and fraud — or does he, in fact, have knowledge of powers far beyond human understanding?  Is Mr. Reed the Ultimate Sinner — or a Misunderstood Saint?

These questions, and a few others, are raised as Barnes and Paxton attempt to match wits with Mr. Reed. The feeling of being trapped sinks in. The last thing both of these women expect to see is a way out.

Could these two match Mr. Reed at his own demented game? Will the man who seemed so harmless and charming at the front door finally show his true colors? Can the conclusion be anything but a dead-end, for everyone involved?

“Heretic” is a tense session of cat-and-mouse between a devious monster disguised as a mild-mannered man. His prey is two young women who are sucked into his weird obsession/hatred with organized religion. Just like the frog in the beaker of water, they do not notice as the water comes to a full boil.

Hugh Grant (Mr. Reed) does a creepy excellent job playing someone who is an excellent creep. His mannerisms are focused on first being disarming and harmless. Yet, and the night goes on — he turns into a full-blown sociopath. Grant dives into the role with a lot of enthusiasm.

Chloe East, playing Paxton, plays a strong and confident young lady. But her character is confounded by the perverse logic of Mr. Reed. Sophie Thatcher, as Barnes, follows along with a wide-eyed amazement at the verbal world of intricate fantasy delivered by Mr. Reed.

The team of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who handled the script and also the director duties, has made a slow-burn horror classic. They wrote the script for “A Quiet Place”, a movie in which almost nobody said a word. They have totally turned that aspect around in this movie.

“Heretic” is a slow-burn horror classic, concerning two young Mormon missionary women meeting up with demented version of Mr. Rogers.