Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 51 minutes, Directors – Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Two Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East) find themselves trapped in the home of a man (Hugh Grant) determined to test their faith through a set of test and choices he constructs.
The trailers, and indeed posters, for Heretic give the impression that the two central characters, Mormon missionaries Sisters Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Paxton (Chloe East), will be battling a maze of horrors assembled by Hugh Grant’s Mr. Reed. In actual fact, much of the tension is built up in just a handful of rooms, face to face with the man fascinated with the faith of the two women in front of him.
On reflection, Heretic could work well as a play, yet writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods never allow this thought to come to mind during the film’s events. Instead you’re wrapped up in the growing suspense as Barnes and Paxton’s fear that they won’t be allowed to leave – despite Reed’s insistence that they can leave whenever they wish, as long as it’s via either a door labelled ‘belief’ or ‘disbelief’ – grows. Tension is wonderfully built up as Reed shows himself as a more and more sinister character. His intentions appear direct, yet there’s a constant veil of mystery as he delves into his own views on faith, and begins his possible test of the two women trapped in his home.
Grant’s charm remains during these scenes yet grows darker as the film goes on; as if the character isn’t putting on a false persona for his initial guests, invited to discuss more about their faith, making his actions and presented choices even more uncertain. A monologue which features a comparison of religions to Monopoly is both darkly funny yet the threat grows in intensity as he goes on, contrasting with the repeating sound of The Hollies’ The Air That I Breathe playing in the background. The sequence grows and grows, and by the time we get to what the trailer makes appear as the key action we’re around an hour in with time having only largely been spent in two rooms. Two rooms where the focus is on the conversation, and an anxious feeling of being unable to leave, or move.
Claustrophobia begins to settle in before even being face-to-face with the set of doors in a quasi-church-like room. Down to both the on-edge performances of East and Thatcher, and the looming stance of Hugh Grant’s grinning to dead-pan threat. The conversation flows effectively before leading into a set of even creepier events designed to truly test the central pairing as clever monologues and back-and-forths continue to take form amongst the greater sense of panic when the entrapment takes a further turn. Alongside the tension the horror itself escalates while managing to generally avoid bloody and gory detail, much of what we see is psychological and thankfully never treads in the territory of Saw, as some might expect.
Instead, the film leans into its screenplay and through a series of close-ups and emphasis on the characters allows the performances to convey the growing tension within the story. Effectively moving the camera and editing to do just this and get across a feeling of entrapment for the viewer too, without ever feeling as if this would be better suited to the stage.
Successfully claustrophobic while allowing the performances to bring a threatening nature to the debates and monologues within the screenplay, Heretic is a successfully tense faith-based entrapment horror which excellently builds up its suspense.
Just A Little Bit Random 