Heretic
In the words of Wilco, "Theologians they don't know nothing/About my soul."
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I’ve been on a sadly timely kick of watching movies where men are attempting to exert their power and/or their beliefs upon women. The recent, Sam Raimi-produced Netflix movie “Don’t Move” is definitely one such example. I haven’t watched Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut “Woman of the Hour” (also on Netflix) yet (something I’m looking to remedy soon), but I’d assume it’d fall within this niche too. Co-writers/co-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ A24 horror flick “Heretic” (now in theaters) rests firmly within this subgenre.
Sisters Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Paxton (Chloe East) are two Mormon missionaries proselytizing in Colorado. They have an appointment to meet with and hopefully convert Englishman Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) in his home. They have trepidations about entering his abode as there isn’t another woman in sight, but he assures them his wife is in the other room baking a blueberry pie that they’ll all share.
Reed begins making disparaging comments about the Mormon faith and believers as a whole, which makes Barnes and Paxton feel uncomfortable. They want to leave, but the front door is locked, their cell phones aren’t working, the key to their bike lock is in Barnes’ jacket which Reed has taken and rain has turned into a full-blown snowstorm. They’re stuck like Chuck.
Reed’s lesson extends from his front room to the study and on to his basement. He’s a theologian who despises theology. He uses fast food places, board games and songs as metaphors to show how all religions are essentially the same and by extension pretty much useless. He wants to test these young ladies’ faith and in doing so will make them fight for survival.
“Heretic” is a good film with good performances. Grant especially just eats! The dude’s devouring scenery and I’m loving the late-career heel turns we’ve seen from him in Guy Ritchie’s recent output, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and here. His facial expressions and line deliveries are just sublime. Thatcher (reuniting with her “The Boogeyman” writers/executive producers Beck and Woods) and East, both ex-Mormons in actuality, are quite good too. They’re very real, likable and easy to root for. Their characters’ faith isn’t a punchline – quite the opposite – it’s unshakable. (An almost unrecognizable Topher Grace also turns up amusingly as Elder Kennedy, who’s searching for the girls when they go missing.)
“Heretic” is surprisingly talky, which is sort of rich coming from Beck and Woods, who made their bones writing the almost dialogue-less “A Quiet Place.” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as a lot of what’s being said is fairly interesting and funny. I do wish somewhere amid all this talk we got a few more answers. Too many threads are left up in the air and origins are often left unexplained. Then again, it could be argued that mystery often makes things scarier.
It was kind of a trip to see “Heretic” so soon after having seen “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway early last month (the play is namechecked and positively critiqued in the movie) and it’s a vast improvement over Beck and Woods’ previous film “65” (my review here). While I agree with and was entertained by many of Reed’s lessons, the way in which he chooses to teach them is absolutely abhorrent … as such “Heretic” left me with a lot on which to chew.