Heretic

Regarding Hugh Grant’s first horror film in thirty-six years (following Ken Russell’s groovily psychedelic The Lair of the White Worm), perhaps Gilbert and Sullivan put it best – “Whereas heretofore Hugh Grant has been a hail-fellow-well-met-ical, his ventures into horror fare just barely parenthetical, one wonders on reflection if he sees this as regrettable, so it’s pleasing to discover now he’s perfectly heretical.” Writer/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods had the inspired idea to cast Grant against type but to retain the charming, slightly flustered persona that made him a mainstay of romantic comedies, which creates a potent sense of unease. Combine that casting coup with a very smart script, great acting and a clever concept and you have Heretic, a dark comedy with a serious core that is one of the most interesting and effective horror films of the year.

Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) are two Mormon missionaries trying to find converts. Barnes is the more experienced of the two young women, while Paxton has yet to convert anyone to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Neither of them is having much success today, being ignored, mocked and finally rained upon. Someone, however, has requested that missionaries visit his home to provide him with information about the church, so they slog through the bad weather to keep the appointment, with Paxton hopeful that this might be her first convert.

A harmless-looking older man, Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), opens the door and invites them to come in to get out of the rain. Barnes informs him that their missionary rules forbid them to be alone in a room with any man without another woman present. Reed says his wife is in the kitchen baking a blueberry pie, and they can smell the aroma of blueberries, so the young women venture into his parlor.

Reed is very polite and welcoming, coming off as an amiable theology lecturer, and when he produces a well-read Book of Mormon (with multiple tabs from his own notes), Paxton is very encouraged that he might be her first convert. When Reed begins to ask about the history of polygamy in the church, however, Barnes responds with historical context but starts to feel that something isn’t quite right with this situation. Reed deflects requests to bring his wife into the room to join them, preferring to verbally challenge their beliefs, asking, “What is the one true religion?” When Barnes finally insists that he go get his wife, Reed leaves the room to presumably do so, but then is gone for a long time. Both Barnes and Paxton are very uncomfortable and decide to leave, only to find to their dismay that the front door won’t open, and their cell phones have no reception. They realize that they have to follow Reed deeper into the darkness of the house.

The thing that Grant brings to the film is the public’s decades-long perception of him in movies as a witty, self-deprecating romantic lead, the good guy that gets the girl, and watching him subvert it here as an only seemingly good guy that is out to get the girls in an altogether more sinister way. And he seems to be having such a good time in Heretic, his entire performance suffused with malevolent glee, resplendent in a multicolored checkered sweater that screams “vicar trying to be hip.” When Grant does his usual fumbling with dialogue, over apologizing and making seemingly genuine faces of concern, this time we know it’s all manipulation, that Reed is enjoying putting his victims through his elaborate scheme. This disconnect from what the audience is used to creates a sense of suspense but also of delighted expectation – we don’t know what this new version of Grant is going to do. Bonus – he sings a couple of lines from Radiohead’s song, “Creep,” and does a Jar Jar Binks impersonation. Are you not entertained?

Thatcher gives a memorably internalized performance as Sister Barnes, a strong and smart young woman who knows she needs to take charge of the situation and try to protect her friend. You can see Barnes figuring things out and putting her plans into action, which gives Reed a credible opponent. East is also quite good as Sister Paxton, the more openhearted and trusting of the two missionaries, and consequently the one the world takes more advantage of, from predators such as Reed to the teenage girls who casually humiliate her on the street.

As directors, Beck and Woods create a palpably foreboding atmosphere (credit to Chung-hoon Chung’s wintry cinematography, all browns and blues and blacks giving a chilly ambience) and get excellent work from their cast. But it’s their script that really shines here, from its clever initial concept (an intellectual version of Saw that uses conversation instead of bear traps) to its genuine interest in theology and faith. They’re sympathetic and not condescending to the missionaries, but the concept of religion in general gets a thorough dissection. Some of these discussions involve faith versus the manipulation of said faith, or whether an all-powerful and capricious God or absolute nothingness is more terrifying. Heady stuff for a horror flick.

The best example of the script’s brilliance (and my favorite scene in the film) is a speech in which Reed describes the idea of iterations to the young women. He starts with the example of how The Hollies’ song “The Air that I Breathe,” Radiohead’s “Creep” and Lana Del Rey’s “Get Free” share such similarities that the last two of those ended up involving legal settlements. Another analogy compares the board game “The Landlord’s Game” and the game it “inspired,” Monopoly. Reed finally connects this up with the fact that most contemporary religions share obvious links with ancient religious beliefs (virgin birth, crucifixion, raising from the dead), and that they’re all just iterations of what he describes as the one true religion, which I won’t spoil.

Heretic is not a standard American horror movie (no disrespect, I love a lot of those films, but it’s not “fake-out, jump scare, repeat”), and I give A24 a lot of credit for giving it a chance. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea (slow build, cerebral content), but I admired and enjoyed it. The ending can be interpreted a couple of different ways, but that’s the point – this film isn’t about easy answers, it’s about difficult questions.