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I was undecided on how to begin this review of Heretic, a fascinating horror/thriller about two young Mormon women who get drawn into a frightening situation when they follow up on the invitation to doorstep a man who is apparently keen to talk about religion, salvation and the truth of human existence. 

I did think that this might be the opportunity, as I have been meaning to take for some time, to discuss A24, the independent production company that in just twelve years has become a real player in American cinema and a rare guarantee of quality to rival other smaller studios such as Working Title, New Line or even Pixar. Striving for originality in cinema they made a name for themselves early with Ex Machina and Room before going on to eventually achieve Oscar success with Everything, Everywhere All At Once a make a move into bigger budget movies with this year’s Civil War. They have also earned a reputation, as is relevant here, for backing smart but scary projects like Talk to Me, The Witch, It Comes at Night, Under the Skin and Hereditary.

I also considered kicking it off with a quick look at films that have examined the nature of doctrine and belief, from comedies as disparate as The Life of Brian, Dogma and The Book of Clarence to the brilliant work of writer Peter Shaffer in things like The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Equus and Amadeus. Powerful work like this explores our need to construct meaning and hope while also entertaining the real possibility of miracles and higher power, something that Heretic plays with itself. 

In the end though I decided to start with Paddington.

This is partly due to the fact that tomorrow’s scheduled viewing of the newly released third movie about Michael Bond’s famous bear makes this an intriguing Hugh Grant weekend double bill (my understanding is that Grant reprises his role as Phoenix Buchanan from the last film). It is more than this though because I think that role, in a very different type of story, has lead in no small way to this one. Prior to Paddington 2, his role as the caddish Daniel Cleaver and one of his weird turns in Cloud Atlas not withstanding, Grant was still being cast as the amiable Englishman. The parts he was playing were still largely built around his charisma and bumbling politeness. Then director Paul King realised that these same traits could be harnessed to turn the man into a beguiling bad guy. Guy Ritchie built on this to some extent in The Gentlemen and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre and Grant was also the villain in Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves but it was his appearance opposite the UK’s favourite marmalade loving ursine immigrant that launched a part of his career that has reached a definite zenith in Heretic. 

Grant’s antagonist Mr. Read is a wonderful creation that it is hard to see anyone playing to quite the same effect. Stanley Tucci or Christophe Waltz could have done something comparable as the guy who deliberately invites a pair of unsuspecting urban missionaries into a trap, but this plays so well to this particular actor’s strengths and identity. As we have seen from Hugh Grant many times before, this man is articulate and well spoken, thoughtful, gracious, impeccably mannered and a little bit awkward but what was once charming has, with subtle changes in context and performance, become utterly chilling. This a genre character that deserves to be as memorable as Hannibal Lector, Nurse Ratchet and Hans Gruber. 

The plot that is constructed around Mr. Read’s (mysteried?) complex plans is as captivating as the character. Only slowly does it become clear what his motivations are and whether there is anything actually supernatural going on as the web is weaved. Fortunately his apparent prey are also very interesting, as essayed by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East.

Thatcher’s most memorable showing up until now is probably in TV’s Yellowjackets and she is similarly intense here. East on the other hand was a whirling powerhouse for Spielberg in The Fabelmans and is almost unrecognisable from that to this, showing an impressive versatility. The different fortitude each of these two characters shows in the face of what is indeed dangerous heresy is highly believable and completely riveting.

Heretic then proves to be a great combination of composed performance and tight screenwriting. The creative forces behind this are Bryan Woods and Scott Beck who wrote the first A Quiet Place but with that on their resume this is a step up. In fact everyone involved here has marked themselves as people to watch moving forward, and it will be particularly interesting to see where Hugh Grant goes next. Whether their future work is with A24 then, or if it riffs on spiritualism and faith or something totally different, they will long be talked about in relation to what they have done in this captivating movie.

Now let’s see if Paddington in Peru compares.

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