Heretic (film)

This article is about the 2024 film. For other similarly-named films, see Heretic (disambiguation) § Film and theatre.

Heretic
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Scott Beck Bryan Woods
Written by	Scott Beck Bryan Woods
Produced by	Stacey Sher Scott Beck Bryan Woods Julia Glausi Jeanette Volturno
Starring	Hugh Grant Sophie Thatcher Chloe East
Cinematography	Chung Chung-hoon
Edited by	Justin Li
Music by	Chris Bacon
Production companies	Beck/Woods Shiny Penny
Distributed by	A24
Release dates	September 8, 2024 (2024-09-08) (TIFF) November 8, 2024 (2024-11-08) (United States)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	<$10 million
Box office	$27.3 million

Heretic is a 2024 American psychological horror film written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. It stars Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East, and follows two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who attempt to convert a reclusive Englishman, only to realize he is more dangerous than he seems.

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024, and was released in the United States by A24 on November 8, 2024. It received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $27.3 million worldwide.

Plot

Two Mormon missionaries, confident Sister Barnes and timid Sister Paxton, arrive at the home of a reclusive Englishman, Mr. Reed. Reed invites them into his home, but the missionaries are hesitant to be alone with Reed. He assures them they are not alone because his wife is preparing a blueberry pie in the back of the house. They enter and begin to discuss religion, with Reed making several uncomfortable comments about the Mormon faith and the nature of belief. When Reed steps out of the room, Barnes realizes that the smell of blueberry pie is from a candle, the front door is locked, and they have no phone signal.

Following Reed, they enter his study, where he proceeds to give a threatening lecture arguing that all religions are adaptations of one another, and claims to have found the one true religion. Reed gives the girls a choice of two doors to go through in order to exit the house, one if they still believe in God, and one if they do not. Barnes rebels, refuting several of his claims, before they both enter the "Belief" door, only to discover both doors lead to the same dungeon.

A decrepit woman appears, eats a poisoned pie, and dies, with Reed claiming that she is a Prophet of God and the pair will witness her resurrection. A Mormon elder arrives looking for the girls but leaves after discovering nothing. The girls unsuccessfully try screaming to get the Elder's attention, and after returning to the dungeon they witness the Prophet rise again and describe the afterlife. Barnes rejects the Prophet's description, noting its similarity to common hallucinations from near-death experiences. When Barnes gives Paxton a signal to attack Reed, he slashes Barnes's throat and claims that she, too, will resurrect.

After Barnes bleeds out, Reed removes a metal object from inside her arm, claiming it is a microchip and it proves that Barnes was not real and the world is a simulation. Paxton, however, recognises the object as a contraceptive implant, and realizes that everything was carefully orchestrated by Reed; while the girls were distracted by the Elder's arrival, a second woman hid the Prophet's corpse before taking her place and delivering the afterlife description as scripted by Reed, adding an unplanned comment: "It's not real." Reed's killing of Barnes and attempt to convince Paxton of a simulated reality was an improvisation to cover the plan going awry. Paxton discovers an underground chute through which the Prophet's corpse was hidden and climbs down with Reed promising it will show her the "one true religion."

Paxton finds a chamber full of emaciated women in cages, locked with the bike lock she used before entering Reed' house. She realizes Reed's conclusion: that a desire to control others is the root of all religions. Paxton stabs Reed with a letter opener, but Reed stabs her as she tries to escape. As they bleed in the basement, Paxton begins to pray, claiming to a vexed Reed that it is done to show kindness to others rather than to produce material results. Reed prepares to finish her off, but Barnes, who was either still alive or is briefly resurrected to answer Paxton's prayer, kills him with a plank of wood before dying. Paxton climbs out of a window and sees a butterfly land on her hand; she had earlier expressed a desire to be reincarnated as a butterfly that appears on the hands of her loved ones. The butterfly suddenly vanishes, leaving an injured and confused Paxton alone in the snowy landscape.

Cast

• Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed
• Sophie Thatcher as Sister Barnes
• Chloe East as Sister Paxton
• Topher Grace as Elder Kennedy
• Elle Young as Prophet

Production

In June 2023, it was reported that Scott Beck and Bryan Woods wrote and would direct the A24 film, Heretic. Hugh Grant and Chloe East were cast in lead roles.

Beck and Woods stated that the film was inspired by the films Contact and Inherit the Wind, as films that discuss religion seriously, but "in a kind of popcorn movie context." The writing of the film was prompted by the death of Woods' father to esophageal cancer, and the questions the event prompted about what happens after death.

The production was granted an interim agreement allowing filming during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. On a budget of under $10 million, Principal photography took place in Vancouver over 30 days from October 3 to November 16, 2023. The movie was filmed in chronological order.

Release

Heretic premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024. The film was scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on November 15, 2024, before it was moved up from its original release date of November 15 to November 8. It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland a week earlier on November 1.

Reception

Box office

As of November 19, 2024, Heretic has grossed $20.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $27.3 million.

In the United States and Canada, Heretic was released alongside The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Elevation, Weekend in Taipei, and the wide expansion of Anora, and was projected to gross around $8 million from 3,221 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $4.3 million on its first day, including $1.2 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $11 million, finishing second behind holdover Venom: The Last Dance. In its second weekend the film made $5.2 million (a drop of 52.3%), finishing on fourth.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 225 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Hugh Grant has infectious fun playing against type in Heretic, a religious horror that preaches the gospel of cerebral chills over cheap shocks." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 70% overall positive score.

Latter-day Saint response

In response to the release of the film, the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement condemning its portrayal of violence against women. Four days before the film's November 8th release, the church posted an article on missionary safety to the "Newsroom" section of its website, intended to "assist journalists and the public with questions and concerns regarding the safety and well-being of missionaries."

A number of Mormons and ex-Mormons praised the film for its realistic and nuanced portrayal of Mormonism.

External links

• Official website
• Heretic at IMDb