Heretic (2024) Dir: Scott Beck & Bryan Woods

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This A24 produced horror, directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, was one of my most hotly anticipated films of last year, but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to go and see it at the cinema, nor was I able to stream it, until now. The synopsis, as well as the film's surprisingly positive reception, intrigued me greatly, and made this a must-watch film when I finally had the opportunity to do so.

The cinematography didn't blow me away, although there were some very pretty shots towards the beginning of the film, particularly one of a unique set of steps leading up a hill. Despite not being overly striking, I must express that I still liked how the film looked quite a lot. The colour palettes used all melded together in a very satisfying way. The film had a very solid, if not wholly unique, aesthetic.

This was a very tense film. There was a lot of dialogue, some of which was deliberately contrary, but it was made very compelling by the delivery of those speaking it. The film spent a lot of its runtime deconstructing, challenging and exploring religious beliefs, with a focus on monotheistic religions. This was particularly poignant because of how heavily religious certain areas and communities in the United States are; the so-called 'Bible Belt'.

I thought the narrative was very well constructed, for the most part. If I had one complaint, it would be that I wished the film had gone further, both on a physical and metaphorical level. Even so, I found this fascinating to watch play out. It even managed to subvert my expectations on two separate occasions, and both in ways that worked well, in my opinion. The ending didn't quite stick the landing as well as it could've, but I think it got away with it, for the most part.

This role suited Hugh Grant so well that it was really quite scary. For so many years, Grant was the dashing heartthrob, or the lovable idiot, but it has been so refreshing to see the man take on some different characters at this stage of his career. This was a brilliant and pinpoint performance from him. It's genuinely one of my favourite acting displays from an actor playing an antagonist in a horror film.

Sophie Thatcher is fast becoming a true scream queen, and rightly so. She was terrific once again in this key role. I loved how well-defined she and her character were, and Thatcher played it out near-enough perfectly. I was drawn into her performance with such ease that I almost didn't realise what was happening. She had a significant role to play, and did so exactly how she needed to.

Chloe East was another to provide a sterling performance in her own respective key role. The shift in performance from the first half of the film to the second was really quite effective. I really enjoyed watching her character grow along with the story, and so much of that had to do with the way East played her role. I think that shift really helped her performance, both in a literal sense and an audience perception one. It gave her much more depth and proverbial folds than it initially seemed.

Overall, although I did expect to like this, at least to an extent, I wasn't quite prepared for how much I ended up enjoying it. This was such a good horror - I loved it. It's not always an easy task for a horror film to stand out from the pack, such is the output in the genre, but I really felt like this one managed it. It's a shame I didn't get to watch this one sooner, particularly at the cinema, because I think I would have enjoyed that experience immensely.