Heretic
The fear of being forced to believe that there is a higher power and surrender to it is immense. But not having any belief in such a supernatural being is even terrifying. This existential duality is explored in detail in the film “Heretic” which is both terrifying and fun.” The film revolves around the theme of zealots towards their faith. There is no shortage of slasher movies targeted at depicting zealotry of ‘religion’ while enforcing violence to achieve fulfillment, but this is a smart twist which really is more of a psychological thriller, more about imagery than content. It is about not merely what tales we are fed but more importantly who feeds them to us.
For thousands of years, human culture has been based on reinterpreting the same set of stories into different religions. And it’s all viewed through a beautifully angst filled lens, creating a genre film that is both beautifully manipulative and cerebral. The goal is to raise not just your heart rate, but your IQ, an approach far too infrequently adopted by genre filmmakers. It’s also beautifully shot and very well acted. As is often the case with films that tackle the fickleness of faith, it starts faltering towards the end when it attempts to resolve some of its issues in what should be the final act, but this is still a well-rounded film that will surely do well for A24.
Two younger members of the church, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and they have got in touch with a man named Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), who had sought for more information. They first obstinately follow their principle and do not go into Mr Reed’s house till his wife appears, but Mr Reid maintains that his wife is currently in the other room preparing a pie. They can even smell berries inside the house. So they take it on themselves and engage anonymity into a theologian exchange with Reed, who quickly returns the first strike issuing a suspension to the girls for interview about trust and about the divine. After all, their confidence is in the existence of God that even his wife is supposed to be in the kitchen. Because that is what the mouths have been sate.
Without giving too much away, Mr. Reed has different intentions with Sisters Barnes and Paxton, exposing them to more and more extreme trials. The first half of the film is nicely designed as it is full of tension and features the younger women attempting to reconcil the task with the panic growing inside them. Are they able to verbalize their way out of whenever something progressively concerning appears? Is there even a correct response to any of Mr. Reed’s questions? The script written by Beck and Woods is in fact very lifelike as it is a great combination of religion and psychopathy. It is Saw meets Silence Whispers.
And Grant seems to be quite enjoying quenetin delivering it. In fact he had gotten into a dark edge that was part of his acting tricks and this is definitely his best work in years. But Thatcher and especially East more than hold their own with him. Her Paxton is easily the more non frontier worldly of the two the way she simply pronounces the word ‘pornography’ both takes time and serves in a film’s opening scene as genuine character development but East will not play her as merely the innocent victim. This is pretty much a three hander for the better part of it’s long life and it would not work if the actors did not get the vision as thoroughly as Thatcher, Grant and East do.
As it has a limited set, it’s quite helpful to have a decent cinematographer who, in this case, shot “Heretic,” so give praise to whoever hired Chung-hoon Chung, one of the cinematographers of such mesmerizing films as ‘The Handmaiden’ and ‘Oldboy’ amongst many others. He seems to have an eye for the camera as it glides painfully through the admittedly sinister house, peering into its corridors and staircases so effortlessly that we seem to become so immersed in the scene that we forget we are inside a set. He also, of course, tends to put a lot of emphasis on heads and faces even bringing us that close to magically lighted tear filled little pupils and the sinister corners of mouths. The close perspective filmmaking sounds too personal, but it’s exactly what the film needs thinking about its success. (As much as I respect the framing of the characters in the story, I could have easily dragged out a lot more dramatic camera movements. This film is about a man killed in an insane asylum, there’s a need for more slanted angles).
As one can imagine in a film that is mainly characterized by plenty of talking scenes in the first third, there comes a turning point in ‘Heretic’ where Mr. Reed’s decision has to materialize, and as many viewers seem to think, it weakens the film when you see it written in a way where it does not have to show but rather had to avoid showing. With that said however, there are such drafts of that film which completely do not hold together, and ‘Heretic’ is never one of those films.
If only some choices made about the narrative of the last act were done differently, but at that very moment with Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes, they feel completely justified. Actually, one cannot do anything at that point.
The essence of horror in the film “Heretic” does not lie in violence but in the contemplations about human nature posed by Reed’s intricate schemes. What to stare at? What bitter die to grasp on? The bitter truth is, there are many prefaced by ‘others’ in the many ‘others’ that Reed claims to have read. ‘Heretic’ is a horror film about ideas so terrible they make every person in the history of the world quiver and that is, first, there is nothing after death and second, everything that all of you have invested your lives in has been false. But still, it is not the kind of movie that is as anti religious as it depicts. The major thing is that it gives the biggest often asked controversial questions to the viewer. If only that is willing to do so.
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