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Heretic is a long-awaited thriller which only saw the light of day just as Halloween arrived, with very happy chappy Mr Reed (Hugh Grant – Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) being the recipient of two nerdy young women from the Church of Latter Day Saints coming to his door – namely Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East – The Fabelmans), ready to spread the religious word, and ready to welcome them in with the promise of Blueberry pie, that they can smell being cooked from inside.
However, after an initial discussion where he explains that his wife is shy and can’t join them just yet, he asks them awkward questions such as what do they think about polygamy? But when it comes time to leave, they have to exit through the back because the front door is on timed deadbolts, given that they’ve arrived late in the day, and in a bizarre move, he marks the doors inside, BELIEF and DISBELIEF, in regards to how they view their faith.
Cue a number of creepy moments where all three are great – particularly Mr Grant – but for example, for the first main scene, where all three talking in his lounge, it’s very drawn out… taking a potentially 10-minute scene into 20-25 minutes, then so is the next scene, and the next, and so on. As such, 110 minutes could easily have been cut down to under 90!
Plus, given how the situation leads to them getting very, and obviously, agitated, since the girls clearly make regular visits to other people’s houses, how come they don’t carry some form of attack alarm? In a job I had 25 years ago, I had a device where I could just pull the pin out and it emits a shriekingly LOUD alarm!
As a few sides, at one point, Hugh carries several drinks on a tray with one hand. I’d have to bring them in, individually, as I’d drop them even if I used TWO hands on the tray! And later, he also manages to put an LP on, drops the needle somewhere in the middle, and gets the start of the song spot-on! That never used to happen. You’d always get the end of the previous song.
Oh, and at the end when the title comes up, it’s in a faded style, so is never clearly visible. I haven’t seen that before, so that’s something for this rather cluttered movie.
Overall, Heretic has some very engaging scenes in here, but it’s severely let down by long scenes that really outstay their welcome, which just starts to irritate. Conversely, the director duo of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods last brought us the similarly-muddled 65, starring Adam Driver, a film which came to its closing credits before the 90-minute mark, yet could’ve done with another 20 minutes to flesh the story out.
There is no mid- or post-credit scene.
Heretic is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 111 minutes
Release date: October 31st 2024
Studio: A24
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (ARRIRAW (4.6K), Anamorphic ALFA Scope, Anamorphic Apollo Scope)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 6/10
Directors: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Producers: Scott Beck, Julia Glausi, Stacey Sher, Jeanette Volturno, Bryan Woods
Screenplay: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Music: Chris Bacon
Cast:
Mr. Reed: Hugh Grant
Sister Barnes: Sophie Thatcher
Sister Paxton: Chloe East
Elder Kennedy: Topher Grace
Prophet: Elle Young
Pedestrian: Julie Lynn Mortensen
Teenagers: Haylie Hansen, Elle McKinnon, Hanna Huffman
Neighbours: Anesha Bailey, Miguel Castillo
Believer: Stephanie Lavigne
Disciple: Wendy Gorling
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.