"Heretic" - Elder Reddit user destroys Morman missionaries with facts, logic, boardgames and pop-culture references

Josh
Jan 14, 2025
5 min read

Scott Beck; Bryan Woods (2024)

Ocean of ideas with the depth of a swimming pool

After seeing the pretty intriguing trailer for Heretic with Hugh Grant being creepy around some young girls luring them in with pie-scented candles while ranting about religion like a crazy person, perfect, this looks interesting. Then I looked at the names of the directors behind it, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, and my smile dropped and most enthusiasm disappeared like Hugh Grant between 2003 and 2017. If those names aren’t ringing a bell they’re behind the bland and dumb wasted potential of a film 65, which I was pretty harsh on. Heretic is leagues better than 65, but again it didn’t feel like it hit the potential it could’ve with the concept and religious subject matter. Though with a layer of charm and snappy dialogue performed by Hugh Grant, it felt like it boiled down to high schoolers trying to one-up their SRE (Special Religious Education here in Aus) teacher with the question, “Yeah but Miss, if God is real, then why do bad things happen?”

Two young Morman missionaries are going from home to home to families who had expressed interest in “Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” We’ve got a nice dynamic between our two leads, with Sister Paxton being your born and raised Morman golden girl struggling to convert people (Chloe East) and the grey sheep, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher), who joined later in life with a foggy past with a skill of converting people. Yet it’s their planned future disciple, Mr.Reed, who was the main draw played by the aforementioned Hugh Grant. While he was great as a soft-spoken gentleman, I wished his performance matched as the movie increased in intensity. I can see how the juxtaposition between the disturbing things being said by a posh man could be creepy, but I just wanted to see him get a bit crazier and see some range in the character.

Once the girls are tricked into entering the house without another woman present at the property, they begin to discuss what got them into their chosen religion and as the conversation goes on the girls realise that Mr.Reed isn’t as innocent as he seems. And we get to the most intriguing part of the movie, which is the pseudo-intellectual rants and back and forths about the one true religion. Mr Reed continues to push the girls to get them to think about what makes their religion right, using the iterations of board games as a metaphor, comparing them to the various versions of the bible. As well as iterations of chord progressions and similar melodies between songs and the biggest laugh moment, hearing Hugh Grant compare the various depictions of Christ, alongside the similarities with other children of God, with Jar Jar Binks. With an impression of course.

Religion is a touchy subject that movies tend to fall flat on their face when trying to tackle, as you find them tip-toeing around the subject without fully homing in on a point or opinion. And it was this conversation between the characters where I was waiting for the “ooooh” moment. The core set-up is that Mr. Reed wants to test the girl's faith and hopes to show the girls a miracle to find the one true faith. Through a small series of tests and games, Reed keeps pushing them to get to the conclusion of what to believe. But even through all the illusions pulled, I was still waiting for that “oooh” moment. And not that the movie needed to poke fun at people who are religious but it didn’t feel like it was getting people to question anything. Even the ending was just a shrug. The very last shot implies that we’re just being told “I don’t know, just believe what you want to believe.”

I compare this to my favourite show and the only reason why anyone should still have a Netflix account, Midnight Mass by Mike Flanagan. The core of the show is about religion, belief and the impacts it has on people's lives and views on the world. It doesn’t offend and treat people who do believe as morons but lets you see their side and reasoning for wanting to believe. Touching on the importance that religion has had in society, bringing communities together, having it be used as a peace of mind or to connect and remember loved ones. As well as exploring why people don’t believe and let them discuss why they should or shouldn’t. And then have both parties be faced with a “miracle” (the Angel) and watch both sides react. So I never felt that punch during Heretic, even when the curtains hiding everything had been drawn.

Topher Grace is also in this movie. He does nothing.

Visually the movie is solid especially when comparing it to the bland wet white rice experience that was 65. With Chung-hoon Chung (Oldboy (2003), Last Night in Soho (2021))behind the camera, during the more intense conversations, the camera glides between each character with grace, keeping the energy high and engaging. Especially as the film takes place in pretty one location, with little time in the beginning spent out in the town they live in, it didn’t get stale at all. The varied rooms within the house feel different enough utilising colour grading to freshen up the spaces. In the earlier stages of the film when the girls first enter the house the use of wide-angle lenses gives the room a distorted feel as Reeds goes on his Reddit Athiest Rants and then a lot tighter as they descend through the house.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods had delivered a promising premise and concepts, although with the depth of a swimming pool with an ocean's worth of ideas. They attempt to be deep with the philosophical question of life after death, if there is such a thing but do not fully poke the wound. More just point at it and acknowledge it’s there without wanting to go near it. I understand they may not want to fully offend any one specific religious group, as the film mostly focuses on Christianity. Yet, these movies are more entertaining and long-lasting when they make you see a side you wouldn’t of otherwise. Art should make you reflect inward even if it’s getting you to look deeper at your point of view but we end up reflecting on who had the idea to get Hugh Grant to quote Jar Jar Binks.