Heretic

Directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, Heretic follows a pair of missionaries (Chloe East’s Sister Paxton and Sophie Thatcher’s Sister Barnes) as they arrive at the home of Hugh Grant’s Mr. Reed – with the surprising narrative detailing the increasingly sinister happenings within said home. It’s a spare premise that is, at the outset, employed to equally spare effect by Beck and Woods, as the filmmakers, armed with their own screenplay, deliver a low-key opening stretch focused on the three central characters’ religion-based conversations (and Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes’ growing suspicions that there’s something off about Mr. Reed) – with the impact of this stretch heightened by the actors’ first-class efforts and the inclusion of a terrific, mesmerizing sequence wherein Mr. Reed compares board games to religion. (East and Thatcher are quite good here, but Grant’s hypnotic, menacing turn remains an ongoing highlight.) From there, Heretic segues into a slightly erratic yet progressively compelling midsection and second half that goes in some seriously unexpected directions – with the inclusion of several narrative jolts carrying the picture through to its slightly underwhelming climax. The end result is a fairly singular horror endeavor that probably should’ve topped out at 90 minutes, and yet there’s certainly never a point at which one is tempted to check their watch.

***1/2 out of ****