Heretic (2024)— Movie Review. Psychologically disturbing…

Psychologically disturbing, thought-provoking, and conceptually bold in its depiction and engagement with the characters and the audience. Bringing forth the challenging question we look for in our existence in the form of a horror/suspense film— “what is the one true religion?”

The film’s themes dive deep into the seemingly innocent Mr. Reed, whose curiosity borders on the side of obsession. His knowledge in the various forms of religion comes from his many decades of studying where he speaks to two sister Mormon missionaries about this important topic — how the different religions view who and what God is.

It’s a story which asks not only what we believe in, but why we believe in it too.

As this forces the two missionaries to listen more attentively to what he has to say about his understanding of faith — this is where everything starts to go wrong.

Character Analysis of Mr. Reed

To that effect, as the story slowly unravels the movie succeeds in building up a fascinatingly daring portrayal of how the dangers of obsessive behaviours can lead us into darkness too.

Potentially corrupting us along the way.

This becomes especially true when Mr. Reed shows his ability in knowing the origins and roots of each of the monotheistic faiths and how they have developed over the years in today’s society.

However, this side of his character warns the viewer of the hidden truth that people with such an overwhelmingly inquisitive nature can potentially be never truly satisfied with the answers they are able to find for themselves.

The brilliance in the character is in his ability of using his knowledge, not as a gift of enlightenment and encouragement, but as a dangerous tool that helps him to influence the manipulative game that takes place.

This becomes strengthened as he goes to describe the belief that missionaries are simply “salespeople who sell an ideology” to their customers, similarly as if they were working for an organisation. He further adds that between him and them that there is a “transaction of ideologies” where he is the one who claims that he has an idea that he wants to sell to them instead.

Hugh Grant’s performance as Mr. Reed was done with such great care and excellence that it helped bring to life the true horror that comes with his character — that he might be right in the end. The character challenges the two missionaries in the film to question their faith in a more historical and critical perspective, causing the seemingly casual setting to turn left.

The Moral Dilemma Being Presented

This discussion taking place becomes an extremely elaborate way in comparing the details of the monotheistic faiths as being similar as the development of Monopoly games. That the same happens to music as well, as he uses the example of the 1974 song “The Air That I Breathe” being used by other artists in future songs too — as a point of reference to help justify his position further too.

The core tenet in his argument being that the “iterations” of both dilutes the core message being presented in religion too, potentially to emphasise the importance in connecting history with modernity to find true understanding.

Another core tenet discussed in the film is in deciding which door to go through regarding their stances on God: one being belief, and the other being disbelief. Despite initially claiming that the two doors lead to the house’s exit, his switch up on the question itself keeps the same trap intact whilst adding a deeper layer of thinking than it did before.

With belief representing the idea God hates people and allows for our suffering to happen anyway, and with disbelief where we embrace a world where everything is meaningless with no higher purpose or God.

However, despite the challenges faced in the question’s setting, I find that the meaninglessness of the question itself comes in knowing that both answers lead to the same place anyway.

That the real test is in how well they can come to terms with their beliefs and with their reactions to his twisted game.

The moral dilemma found because of this is that we are forced to look deeper into what we believe in as we get dragged into the same problem as well. The question reflects back to us in a disturbingly personal level as we can’t completely ignore the question being asked of them.

As the movie saves us in having to engage with this dilemma ourselves, the cautionary tale helps to point out the flaws in Mr Reeds thinking as the unlikely hero, Sister Paxton, is the one who unravels his secrets for herself.

The Lesson Learned in “Salvation”

The real intelligence behind the film’s narrative is in allowing the characters to doubt and to question the antagonists words intellectually throughout the process of the film. That we find out the answer to what he believes the one true religion is: control.

Once the victims that he keeps for himself finally get revealed in the film, he brings to life the darkness that exists within his flawed perspective. Through the lens of someone who lacked empathy and love — this revelation ties in the lack of humanity that comes with this sort of understanding.

That this was the point furthest from God himself.

I’ve come to see that perhaps the most striking dialogue for me was the mention about the “Great Prayer Experiment”. Despite commenting on the conclusive evidence of the lack of tangible, scientific effects of prayer, her belief in the idea of “thinking of others instead of ourselves” helps to empower her statement further as a person of faith myself.

Therefore, even with the idea that prayer is being mentioned to have “no effect” to those suffering in the world, this scene really resonated with me a lot. Thus, helping to convince me in believing in God through our love for others and in building a relationship through our heart being very important to achieving that, not just with the mind itself.

By having faith with good works.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Overall, as this is my first film review I am glad to say that the deeper themes of the film hits a lot of high notes for me overall.

The way he harshly critiques each religion and the paradox of religious knowledge, as he points out that no religion can overcome complete scrutiny when being fully analysed in detail. The way the questions he gives are structured to cause doubt, his point regarding that “the more he gains answers the less he knows” adds a deeper layer of fear into the idea of solitude and death.

The film attempts to challenge us into thinking more deeply into ourselves not just in what our religions are, but in the foundations of our beliefs itself. That control does tie into how religion functions too — somewhat blurring the lines between belief and disbelief for many of us because of it. Reflecting more on what we value most in our lives and how thinking outside the box is importance in testing the validity of our beliefs.

In the context of the theological and philosophical themes in the film, the deep scrutiny thrown back at his own ideas helped become the crucial aspects to beating him — not just intellectually but spiritually too.

This unique work of art left me deeply impacted, as the heretic leaves a haunting impression in the way we view our lives and the dangers that come with it for so many people.

And perhaps changing it forever.