Heretic is a pretty fascinating psychological horror film written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. The main cast includes Hugh Grant, Chloe East, and Sophie Thatcher.

Two young missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrive at the home of peculiar Englishman who claims to be married. As they begin their discussion of their faith, the two young women recognize that Mr. Reed is quite surprisingly well-versed in their texts and beliefs. Reed also throws out some interesting challenges to their beliefs. When the two women have the opportunity to leave, they find the front has been locked, and the house has some very unusual security features. The visit turns into something more sinister when Reed offers a puzzling choice in order for them to leave. The women have been ensnared into both a religious debate and a fight for their lives as they try to stay true to their beliefs.

First of all, the performances were quite compelling. Grant manages to maintain his familiar bumbling charm and still exude a god bit of menace. Both East and Thatcher were quite good. The actual religious debate was well written, and the character Thatcher plays, Sister Barnes, ends up holding her own challenging the views that Reed espouses. Reed believes that the major religions are built on iterations of the same core beliefs and are distortions of what he believes the is the one true religion.

As the film plays out, things get a bit more gruesome as Reed’s psychopathy becomes more apparent.

The construction of this house is a bit mind-boggling which is a little distracting when one tries to imagine how Reed accomplished this peculiar trap. There are some loose ends when it comes to the background that are not really satisfactorily explained, and there is an ambiguity to the ending that is a little frustrating as well.

Overall, the writers were still pretty good. There was some decent suspense as the story progressed. The plot twists were pretty creative, and I was not able to predict every step of the cinematic journey.

Even though some aspects left me a little frustrated, that feeling was pretty mild. I ended up appreciating talent of the actors and the mental stimulation provided by some of the intellectual jousting. It was great to see Grant show a bit more range than usual. East and Thatcher held their own alongside a seasoned actor like Grant.

It’s a film with some flaws, but it ended up holding my interest much better than many of the recent offerings from Tinseltown.