[Nerdspresso] "Heretic" Will Make You a Hugh Grant Believer

We are now living in the third phase of Hugh Grant. In the ’90s, he was that stammering, floppy-haired rom-com guy from Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, and in the early ’00s, we were treated to that selfish snarky cad in Bridget Jones’s Diary and About a Boy. As he has aged beyond rom-coms, Grant has hijacked escapist fare like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Paddington 2 with snide supporting roles.

And let’s not forget his sarcastic Oompa Loompa in Timothee Chalamet’s Willy Wonka prequel! Firmly ensconced in middle age, Grant now seems to be toying with his onscreen image and delighting in surprising audiences. His performance in Heretic is a victory – an instance where typecasting is used to the filmmakers’ advantage. You bring all your preconceptions to bear while watching this psychological horror film. Grant’s polite stammering and twee Britishness are fully on display, but they are masking something quite sinister.

Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the scribes behind A Quiet Place, this movie inspires a career-best performance from Hugh Grant. He is so convincing that you may never knock on a stranger’s door again. Set in Salt Lake City, Heretic begins with two earnest missionaries for the Church of Latter-Day Saints going door to door sharing their message.

Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher from Showtime’s Yellowjackets) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East from Spielberg’s The Fabelmans) come from different backgrounds. Barnes converted to Mormonism following a troubled childhood while Paxton was raised in the faith. Both are devoted missionaries, but Barnes is more worldly while Paxton is extremely naive. Their last stop of the day is at the secluded home of the overly friendly and well-mannered Mr. Reed.

They are lulled into a false sense of security by benign chatter and an offer of pie. The conversation soon escalates from Reed’s curiosity about their faith to questioning their belief. When Reed leaves to check on that pie that he claims his wife is baking, the missionaries attempt a hasty retreat only to discover the door is securely locked and they can’t get a cell phone signal inside the house. Reed returns and lures them to his study.

He confronts them with his theories about religion, illustrating the similarities between all faiths, and comparing them to pop songs and board games. Reed claims that he has discovered the one true religion and invites them to explore it further with him. After the young women plead to be let go, he explains that they can exit through one of two doors in the room. One is marked “Belief” and the other “Disbelief.”

After much deliberation, they choose a door and find themselves traversing a dark stairway into a foreboding basement. Not since The Silence of the Lambs has a movie made me uneasy simply with its atmospheric setting. Reed’s home feels like a supporting character and it doesn’t have good intentions.

As our two missionaries descend further into the house, your pulse quickens. Your imagination may start to terrorize you as the walls feel like they are closing in. Once deep inside the bowels of the house, Reed informs the women that he will now perform a miracle and reveal the one true religion. Reed’s insights are clever and thought-provoking.

This dialogue could have worked in a scene between students and their college professor, but here it plays against a much more malicious backdrop. Kudos to the filmmakers for weaving a thoughtful discussion on religion into their taut, paranoid thriller. Heretic manages to make you think while freaking you out. Grant is truly chilling yet never strays from his calm, urbane demeanor. He scares you by not being scary.

Grant succeeds in upending your expectations to deliver a satisfying thriller with some genuinely unsettling moments. His politely disturbing villain helps this film rise above your standard “girls trapped in a house” horror flick. For a super creepy theological discourse and other mayhem, watch Heretic now on MAX. It will make you a believer in Hugh Grant. Swear to God.

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