Movie Review: Heretic

This horror film is a journey! It is a movie I consistently reach for because not only is it a horror, but it crosses the boundary into thriller which I would argue is the main genre of this film. We start by meeting our two protagonists Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton, both Mormon missionaries going door to door to spread the word about their religion. Unfortunately, the sisters are met with their demise personified. Mr Reed. Along with the missionaries, us as the viewers are transported into Mr Reed’s psychological and religious spiral surrounding conspiracy theories about life. 

This 2024 film in my opinion pushes boundaries on the average person’s perception on life. The movie is designed to cause discomfort and make you feel out of place in a world consisting of things much bigger than us because of the continuous idea of things overlapping one another. For example, Mr Reed shows the sisters how different religions have similar ideologies and the same premise just as there are different versions on monopoly but ultimately it is all the same and how certain songs are seen to be participating in plagiarism. But really there is only one original. 

The whole movie progresses in this way in an attempt for Mr Reed to hatch an epiphany for the sisters onto how they perceive life. It must be acknowledged that the movie does start to take the route of entertaining conspiracy theories and may become confusing at times due to the heavy load of existentialism. However, this heavy load is used powerfully in building tension and keeping us viewers on the edge of our seats. Similarly, the title ‘Heretic’ at first strikes us as another horror film with religious imagery. However, I would argue that this film is incredibly niche with how it has been produced because it is not your typical horror with jump-scares and a cross on the wall. It uses the idea of religion to build anticipation and tension which is what causes discomfort for us watching. 

The technicalities of this film help elevate what it is trying to show us. In the start of the film, the sisters are invited into Mr Reed's home which is rather comforting through the use of soft and warm lighting when directed. The warm toned wood and cream walls of the set represent an invitation, a welcome that Mr Reed in the movie had extended to the sisters. But as we progress further along into the movie, the sets become much darker and more sinister as Mr Reeds’ intention becomes clearer. Not only is the movie had layers but so is the overall production, which came to be seen with the lighting, the acting to even how it was filmed. Each layer adds dimension to the world building of the movie and helps elevate it to a true thriller. 

The deepest point into Mr reeds’ spiral is talking about conspiracies after relating to religions. This is where I would argue the movie becomes fast paced, possibly a bit busy that it is almost too far to comprehend both what he is explaining alongside what is happening in the movie. 

Possibly this could be due to multiple factors such as the development in the plot and that at this point in the movie there is only one missionary, therefore we are completely left in the hands of the missionary that is with us to realize what is happening in that current time. 

Overall, the idea of this movie is incredible, and I would highly encourage anyone to watch it if they haven’t already! It is a high quality production with fantastic acting from Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East. Filled with ideologies that we would never think of, all strung together to form this psychological thriller/horror that is truly mind blowing. 

Written by, Jasmine Molineux