Heretic

 

“Belief or disbelief. You must choose.”

Claustrophobic, cautionary and provocative, Heretic revels in its cerebral deconstruction of organised religions as it blasphemes and brutalises belief systems in a taught thriller that maximises the charisma of Hugh Grant to prod at faith and raise more questions than answers in a somewhat frustrating conclusion. 

Discussion Points:

Heretic is at its best when it’s a claustrophobic psychological thriller set in an eerie holy sanctuary with a series of cerebral debates about religious truth. But as soon as it starts to devolve into its more hellish underworld, it looses its cerebral control and becomes reliant on sudden scares and messy miracles, revealing the film to not be as smart as it perhaps thought it was. Whilst the scintillating screenplay initially provides some genuine food for thought, and it does well to prompt critical thinking about our underlying assumptions, I was ultimately left frustrated by its lack of answers and multitude of questions - both theological and practical. Heretic spends plenty of time trying to disprove religions, but never actually seems interested in assessing any legitimate claims. And its lead, played with incredible warmth yet deep disturbance by Hugh Grant, goes from intellectual theologian to cruel captor whose whole operation seems much more far fetched than the faiths he seeks to disprove. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are both great as Mormon missionaries trying to navigate the labyrinthian lair they find themselves in. When compared to the directing duos previous film, 65, this is a substantially more intelligent film, and one that I was still very entertained by, even if I found its ultimate commentary hollow and thin. I wasn’t offended by it, more disappointed that it ended up regressing into a serial killer slasher rather than maintaining its steadily unsettling psychological deconstruction. But thank you Mr. Reed for your hospitality - I’d love to visit again and chat further with you about my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.