Hugh Grant further solidifies his post-rom-com resurgence as the extremely creepy Mr. Reed in this fairly intellectual horror movie that puts religious belief on trial. Though not particularly scary as modern-day horror movies go, there’s enough substance in the elaborate buildup of murderous pretense in the opening hour that the requisite reveals feel more earned than they probably would upon closer scrutiny. God knows the premise is half-baked. Mr. Reed lives in a dark, old house set back from the street in an unnamed American town, and he purposely invites representatives of the Church of Latter-day Saints to his lair to hear their proselytizing spiel. The church dispatches two fairly young women, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), whose own relationship is going to be tested once things get hairy, but for the time being they are innocent enough to believe they might have a chance of bringing Mr. Reed around to Mormonism. But, seriously, girls, who proactively calls a religious organization to request a bid for being converted?

Predictably, it’s a dark and stormy afternoon when the women arrive at Mr. Reed’s door, where they confirm that his wife is around, since they’re not allowed to be alone with a man. He politely assures them that his spouse is in the kitchen baking blueberry pies, a ruse they believe because they can smell them. It’s not a spoiler to say that the wife never shows up because the writer-directors, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, count on the viewer having more insight into human nature than the two Mormons do. The question thus becomes: What is Reed up to? Some stone horror buffs will likely become impatient with the debate that follows, since it’s predicated on Reed’s advantage in terms of having done his homework about the history of religious philosophy, as well as a solid grounding in logical argumentation, pursuits the two women, who are only grounded in dogma, have trouble keeping up with. Reed’s main thesis is that there are many “iterations” of monotheism, so why should one have more value than another if all have the same purpose, which is to lash the human mind to God’s will? Reed’s strongest assertion is that organized religion is simply a panicked reaction to the fear of death, which is hardly original, but Grant puts it across with fresh determination owing to his natural charm, which is undergirded by Mr. Reed’s increasingly convincing allusions, especially with regard to Mormonism’s built-in moral hypocrisy. According to interviews, Beck and Woods wanted Reed to represent the kind of confident atheism that has emerged on the left in the past few decades and then make it malevolent, and the idea works quite well. The initial smug liberal reaction is that these women, though naive, are getting righteously schooled, but as soon as Reed’s profusions turn harrowing—he clearly isn’t going to make it easy for the two women to leave the house—the viewer’s sympathies shift 180 degrees. 

And once that happens and Reed’s real intentions come to light, Barnes and Paxton have to work out for themselves how they’re going to get out of the house alive. The changing emotional dynamic between the two is more stimulating than the elaborate horror contrivances that the directors set in motion. Reed’s malevolence is never explained as anything more than the usual God-like prerogatives of the lonely, self-important male ego, and Grant can’t quite sell the character as the monster he’s meant to be. The two women are more interesting for the kinds of mental resources they have to tap in order to survive, and while that kind of difference may not be enough to satisfy a genuine horror buff, it’s compelling enough for a two-hour thriller that’s more brain than blood. 

Opens April 25 in Tokyo at Toho Cinemas Nihonbashi (050-6868-5060), Toho Cinemas Hibiya (050-6868-5068), Marunouchi Piccadilly (050-6875-0075), 109 Cinemas Premium Shinjuku (0570-060-109), Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011), Toho Cinemas Shinjuku (050-6868-5063), Shibuya Humax Cinema (03-3462-2539), Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills (050-6868-5024).

Heretic home page in Japanese

photo (c) 2024 Blueberry Pie LLC