Hugh Grant in a horror movie? The last time I had this sort of conflicted anticipation was when Robin Williams played the bad guy in One Hour Photo. Don’t get me wrong, some parts of One Hour Photo don’t hold up as well today. In part because the notion of a film developing counter in a Walmart style store is pretty obsolete. Sure, they have the computer thing you can load into to get prints. But that’s very different. And who uses that? Also, this isn’t about that movie, so shut up inner me and focus on Heretic!

Where was I? Hugh Grant in a horror movie! The last time I had this sort of…. Wait a minute….. Anyway, if you don’t know this movie, you should. Honestly, go watch it now. Because if you keep reading there will be spoilers. It starts out a bit slow with two young women wandering around a city. Sophie Thatcher is Sister Barnes and Chloe East is Sister Paxton talking about sex. They then move on to carrying their bikes up 200 stairs, walking around with their bikes, then carrying them back down those stairs. Eventually they wind up outside the home of an individual on their list of people who signed up to have a discussion on conversion to the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Now I’m going to come at this with nitpicks. I nitpick movies I enjoy. And I did enjoy this. I want to buy this and add it to my collection. But I am going to nitpick. Starting with asking why they have bikes that they walk along rather than ride.

And a question of weather. This one spans the whole movie. What starts out as a seemingly decent Spring or maybe Fall day is wildly inconsistent. Very nice day. But when they arrive at the home of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), it has started raining on them. They have decent coats on, but are willing to stand out in the rain to talk to Mr. Reed (because there is a stipulation that they can’t enter a home unless a woman is present.) So being willing to stand in the rain indicates to me that it is jacket weather, but not significantly cold out. And yet about halfway into the movie the weather has turned into a rather severe snow storm. Keep in mind that this takes place on a single evening. It is later revealed that the date is 11/7. So snow does seem like a possibility. But this is a current day setting. Surely they would have had indication of a potential snow storm. And not “ridden” bikes 4 miles away with the likelihood of having to ride home in snow. Massive plot mistake in my eyes.

Mr. Reed reassures them that he is married and his wife is in the kitchen baking a pie. Relieved at her presence, they enter his home.

Before Mr. Reed answers the door though, Sister Barnes checks her phone and we see their daily itinerary which shows 5 names and addresses, with Mr. Reed being the final one on the list. Now, my mind sees that and says that he is the last stop for them for the day. Presumably the one who gave them the list did so in a manner that had order to it. For multiple reasons. Makes sense to set it up in a path. Also so they can be tracked if need be.

Hugh Grant plays a delightfully charming and quirky gentleman who seems genuinely intent on exploring religion. As the three of them sit and discuss religion, Barnes and Paxton begin to get nervous as the wife keeps not making her presence known to them. At one point, while he is off to “talk to his wife” the two go to the door and try to step outside, only to find the door locked in a manner not apparent to their inspection.

Eventually they tell him directly they want to leave and he informs them that the front door is on a time lock and won’t open until the morning. But they can go out through the back door. Not an ideal situation for them, but with no other options, they go deeper into the home. And the nature of the religious discussion gets deeper and more complex as board games are introduced. Yes, board games. Mr. Reed uses the history of Monopoly to expand the depth of his personal inspection of religion. Comparing different texts of the primary religions and the similarity among them. At this point, the women realize that they are in trouble.

The crux of this movie is an exploration of religion. And Mr. Reed is willing to go to extremes to find the answers he is searching for. In some ways, this movie feels tangentially related to the French film Martyrs. Nowhere near as graphic and brutal as Martyrs, but the second half of Martyrs focuses on exploring the afterlife and what can be discovered about it. The second half of Heretic has a similar aspect. Don’t get me wrong, these are very different movies. But I felt a connection between them from my personal perspective as a viewer.

And I desperately want to go deeper into spoilers for this. Because there is so much to dig into. And I so want to dig. I want to discuss this in depth. Mr. Reed has a well prepared discussion laid out to present to Barnes and Paxton. A discussion that is certainly not the first time he has engaged in it. It is too prepared for that. He has props on hand. This isn’t an off the cuff conversation on his end. And…. gahhhh…. There are about half a dozen nitpicks I want to delve into, but it goes deeper into spoiler territory. And I want you to watch it. Come back and discuss it with me in the comments.

Ratings? This is the 9-11 range for me (11 being a Gold Star.) Because of the freshness of having just watched it, I think it resides in 10 territory. My nitpicks don’t degrade the rating, rather they help explain it. Perfection isn’t something that comes along often. Were this a perfect film, it would be in the Gold Star territory. It may get there. But today it is merely a 10!