Hugh Grant is an amazingly good villain in the Heretic horror thriller, which is covered with theological philosophy and black humor.
Premiere: 22 November 2024
Original name: Heretic
Directed by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods
Screenplay: Scott Beck & Bryan Woods
Starring: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher & Chloe East
Length: 111 minutes
Age limit: K16
Heretic-horror thriller’s trailer misleads the viewer a bit. The trailer hints Saw-type, trap-filled cat-and-mouse game, but this is a bit of misleading advertising. Scott Beckin and By Bryan Woods directed and written by Heretic is more of a horror comedy with an academic theological twist.
In the main role as the villain of the story, he is irrepressibly funny Hugh Grantwho is clearly enjoying his role as a philosophical bully who bullies young girls.
Heretic plays with faith, religion and popular culture, and wraps these themes deliciously and with the help of surprising twists in the context of a locked house of horrors. A horror hit from a few years ago Barbarian a similar film innovatively uses the horror of a closed place to create a claustrophobic atmosphere.
However, the most entertaining part of the film comes from the humorous philosophical reflection: which religion is the Right One.
Of course, Heretic does not offer any final answer to this question, but the journey towards it is for the most part excellent.
Kuva: Kimberley French / Scanbox Entertainment.
Faith by trial
In Heretic, two young Mormon girls, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), go from door to door preaching about “our savior Jesus Christ”. They are only at the beginning of their career as missionaries, which is highlighted by their gullible and simple naivety.
The girls doing their job in the heavy rain end up at Mr. to Reed’s (Grant) door, as Reed has stated that he is interested in religion. The elderly man is very friendly and invites the drenched girls inside his blueberry pie-scented house from the rain. Inside, however, Reed’s wife is nowhere to be seen and soon the girls’ suspicions start to arise.
Reed’s interest in religion is not exactly what the missionaries expected to encounter. When the electricity goes out and the locked front door won’t open anymore, the girls find themselves trapped, in the middle of a philosophical game in a house full of secrets.
Faith is indeed tested.
Kuva: Kimberley French / Scanbox Entertainment.
A mix of gloom and dark humor
Director-writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have worked as screenwriters in the past, among other things Quiet place -horror film and directed and wrote the not-so-great sci-fi thriller 65. Between these, Heretic ranks clearly closer to Silent Place on the superiority scale.
Almost the entire film takes place within the walls of Reed’s secretive house, with three main actors. Beck and Woods exploit this minimalism skillfully, creating a truly claustrophobic atmosphere as the set trap closes around the characters. The minimalism of the environment is balanced with detailed sprawling dialogue, as darker shades begin to emerge from the affectionate, talkative uncle.
Kuva: Kimberley French / Scanbox Entertainment
Heretic’s mutual power relations are undulating in an interesting way by actors perfectly suited to their roles. As Reed begins to reveal his real fur, Barnes and Paxton feel as though they are physically shrinking. But only girls who grew up in the shelter of a religious community can find the will to survive and the determination when the need arises.
Heretic is rare as a horror film, because it relies so heavily on dialogue instead of quick bursts and stabbing. In a film that relies on verbal expression, especially in its first half, beneath the black humor, an oppressive, dark atmosphere is revealed, which accompanies a more traditional horror imagery in the second half.
Heretic is at his best when he talks. When the journey into the depths of horror begins, the tormenting grip of the atmosphere loosens. The latter half of the film doesn’t hold its grip as tightly anymore, even though based on its visuals you could imagine that the tension is just starting at that point.
Kuva: Kimberley French / Scanbox Entertainment.
The captivatingly evil Hugh Grant
The absolute bright spot of the film is Hugh Grant, the charmer of 1990s romantic comedies, who has started to make quite bold role choices as he gets older. Heretic is certainly one of his most delicious roles in recent years, as it combines Grant’s characteristic dry humor seamlessly with something much darker.
It’s the mix of darker tones and humor that makes Heretic so fascinating. Grant is in his element as he explains religion, music and the history of games to the bright-eyed religious girls. And when darker figures enter the picture, the English actor turns from a smooth-talking philosopher to a believable horror thriller’s cruel puppet master.
Although Grant steals the actual show, Beck and Woods also give their young female characters room to develop. The girls, who have an innocent one-dimensional approach to the world, discover new sides along the way, when they have to question everything they have learned before. Young Thatcher and East provide an excellent counterforce to Grant here.
HERETIC
“Relying on delicious dialogue and an excellent Hugh Grant in his role, Heretic is an entertainingly funny horror thriller despite its dark pressure.”
Source: muropaketti.com
