“Heretic” Turns Doubt into Dread

Heretic (Scott Beck/Bryan Woods, 2024) 3½ out of 5 stars

“I am a Mormon / And, dang it, a Mormon just believes,” sings Elder Price in The Book of Mormon, the musical comedy that is probably the most widely-known  portrayal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That is, until now. In Heretic, the chilling new A24 horror from A Quiet Place writing team Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, two sister missionaries find themselves in a game of cat-and-mouse with a man who will do anything to challenge their faith. But while it may feel like the polar opposite of the Broadway hit, the core question remains the same: what does it truly mean to believe?

While the church itself may be wary of such depictions, Heretic is a generally softhearted portrait of the religion. Its sympathies are made clear through the endearing journey of its heroines. The perspective switches in an interesting way between the intelligent and worldly Sister Barnes and the sweet but naive Sister Paxton. Backed by the equally engrossing performances of Sophie Thatcher (Prospect) and Chloe East (The Fabelmans), their characters make for strong and surprising leads. As the story unfolds, the challenges they face lead to real, surprising character growth, which makes their story feel all the more rewarding.

Interwoven through their emotional terror is a thought-provoking exploration of religious history and the nature of belief. The philosophical debates throughout the film provide some of its most entertaining moments, even if many of the themes will feel familiar to anyone who has wrestled with a crisis of faith. Hugh Grant (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) as their captor, Mr. Reed, makes for the perfect condescending—and, nevertheless, charming—villain. But what makes the discussion most engaging is that both he and the missionaries have levels of truth and logic in their perspectives, which outlines the real leap that is faith.

Beck and Woods set up these ideas within the striking labyrinth of the cat, Mr. Reed. Although most of the story unfolds in its small spaces, the combined talents of production designer Philip Messina (Stillwater) and cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon (Last Night in Soho) make the settings incredibly unique and alive. The outside scenes are beautiful and open, while the indoor ones are stylishly suffocating.

But, like many stories of this nature, Heretic struggles to maintain its momentum. The midpoint loses some of its mystery, and it begins to feel both smaller-scale and needlessly complicated. For better and for worse, it veers into a trashier sensibility that seems less interested in either asking questions or answering them. But then again, these aren’t exactly the type of questions we should expect to be solved in under two hours.

Hannah Tran

Hannah Tran is a film critic and filmmaker from Las Vegas, Nevada. Hannah works as a film screener for the Las Vegas Film Festival and publishes an independent zine focused on highlighing Asian American filmmaking.