REVIEW: Heretic – A24’s Delicious New Horror Showcases Hugh Grant at His Best

When it was announced that Hugh Grant would star in a horror film, many doubted whether his posh, charming reputation would translate to the genre. After all, similar attempts haven’t always been successful—take Hugh Bonneville, known for Downton Abbey, whose performance in Netflix’s horror I Came By fell short for some. However, with Heretic, this gamble has paid off spectacularly.

Set in a quiet town surrounded by mountains, two Mormons called ‘Sister Barnes’ and ‘Sister Paxton’ played by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are on the road talking about, as they put it ‘the lord and saviour Jesus Christ’. They are struggling to convert anyone to the Mormon faith and not only are they ignored on the street but also mocked and ridiculed. As a storm closes in, they arrive at the house of someone who has expressed interest in hearing from them and who wishes to know more about what they do.

They knock on the door, and are invited in by Hugh Grant’s enigmatic Mr.Reed. As their first encounter becomes more tense and awkward, they (as well as us as the audience) soon realise he in fact knows more than they do and so begins a terrorising, hypnotic battle of what religion truly is, and even darker revelations lay hidden below.

It turns out that all Hugh Grant needed was an out of left field role to to conjure up his career best performance. The whole film is toying and running with a clear and obvious juxtaposition in that Grant’s soothing accent and polite demeanour makes the air of uncertainty, tension and horror even better. However intimidating or threatening the film gets, it is this factor that makes it even more delicious. Not only are his words and dialogue delivered almost perfectly, but his stature is so subtle yet so effective.

Photo credit: Lifestyle pictures / Alamy Stock Photo

The film is shot by cinematographer Chung Hoon Chung, perhaps most famous for shooting the original Oldboy, whose exquisite framing and patient camera movements adds even more to the already uneasy atmosphere. Shots linger on Grant’s enigmatic face for slightly too long and we just sit in nervous anticipation of what is about to happen. Even though Grant is able to pull this off, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East do a fantastic job going up against him, made harder for them as he just so happens to be delivering the performance of his life. The fact that their performances stand out so much is a such an accomplishment and I cannot wait to see what they do next.

This is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods who, alongside John Krasinki, were the creators of the Quiet Place films (among other horror and science-fiction films). This is not their first directing gig, but their previous work as not been quite up to par with this. I see this as finally being the one to catapult them into the spotlight and prove that they can direct horror.

Photo credit: Lifestyle pictures / Alamy Stock Photo

While I thought this was one of the best written horror film I have ever seen, part of me skeptically thinks it will try the patience of some. Despite being excellently crafted in almost all regards, there are extended moments of pure dialogue that I fear some might be bored by. In my screening though, which was surprisingly full, there was complete silence all throughout which thankfully showed it was working.

What worked so brilliantly about Blumhouses’s recent Speak No Evil was that the horror came from the very same awkwardness that is utilised here. The horror aspect does not came from any jumps or violence but in fact from reading the room, pretending to be polite when in fact you are excruciatingly uncomfortable. When all of that is done, it does gradually, as they all do, start to kick off towards the end but it had more than earned the right to do so.

Photo credit: Lifestyle pictures / Alamy Stock Photo

Even the humour, when it is very briefly attempted, worked surprisingly well and did elicit quite loud laughter from my audience. As we begin to enter awards season, I think some recognition for Grant seems fair and realistic. Given what they’ve pulled off here, I am very eager to see what Scott Beck and Byran Woods do next.

8/10

In cinemas now.