Heretic

Starring: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East, Topher Grace

Director: Scott Beck & Bryan Woods

Sister Barnes (Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (East) spend their day visiting those who have reached out and are contemplating converting to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The last name on their list, Mr. Reed (Grant), invites them in promising some riveting conversation and blueberry pie that his wife is currently baking. Soon, the girls realize there is more to Mr. Reed than meets the eye and find their faith being tested as they fight to escape Mr. Reed's deadly mind games.

I love a good self-contained or single location thriller. These types of films are often hard to pull off, but when they are it makes for compelling cinema (Buried, Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Outfit to name a few). Despite the promising trailer, I was worried when I saw that the duo behind this also wrote and directed the much maligned and dull 65.

However, the writing-directing duo Scott Beck & Brian Woods (who also helped write A Quiet Place) have put together their best effort yet. Using religion as a backdrop to pose thought-provoking questions, audiences are left on the edge of their seats as Barnes and Paxton are drawn further into the game and Mr. Reed throws everything from Monopoly to Jar Jar Binks to have the girls question their faith. It all leads to a compelling showdown where things don't quite end the way you're expecting.

Helping assuage my fears as well is the cast. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East aren't your typical horror movie heroines, rarely falling into the traps most horror characters do. They quickly recognize red flags and attempt to leave and are always looking for ways to escape the further into the game they get. However, the star of the show is Hugh Grant and the plot rapidly shifts gears once he enters the picture. Not only is he having a fantastic resurgence recently (Paddington 2, The Gentlemen, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), the former Rom-Com icon gives us maybe his most menacing performance ever. Mr. Reed is devilishly clever, not only challenging the two young girls but the audience as well. Despite the girls' best efforts, he is always one step ahead of them. It's a fantastic performance and Grant gets several monologues that he just devours.

If I had one minor complaint, it is that the film does falter in the few instances it cuts away from whatever is happening at Mr. Reed's house to follow a character played by Topher Grace. It doesn't add anything to the film and undercuts the suspense of a plot that it has little consequence or effect on.

I have tried to stay as vague about the plot as possible, and I don't think I have said anything that isn't already revealed by the trailers. This is a film that it is best to go into as blind as possible. But if you do, you'll get one of the best religious thrillers in quite some while (outside of Conclave).

Grade: A-