Older stars lose their youthful veneer but often gain something special in the process.
Examples? Kevin Costner, Jean Smart and Pierce Brosnan have only gotten better with age. Add Hugh Grant to that list.
The befuddled hero from 1994’s “Four Weddings and a Funeral” is showing remarkable range as he enters his 60s. He recently stole 2023’s “Wonka” as the sole Oompa Loompa. Before that, he left us shaken with Max’s “The Undoing” (2020).
Now, he’s giving two Mormon missionaries the fright of their lives in “Heretic.” The spiritual thriller can’t quite close the deal, but Grant’s deft performance is one for the ages.
And, yes, you won’t find “Heretic” playing at any Mormon gathering or spiritual retreat.
Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton (Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East) are spreading the good word when they knock on the door of a kindly gentleman named Mr. Reed (Grant). Sister Paxton is comically naive about, well, everything. Sister Barnes knows a little more about the secular world.
But not much.
Together, they’re eager to spend time with Mr. Reed, assuming he can coax his wife into the living room. They’re not allowed to speak to a man without a woman present.
Mrs. Reed is busy baking a blueberry pie in the kitchen. That gives her husband enough time to quiz the Sisters on their faith.
Boy, does he have a lot of questions. Some of them make the ladies uncomfortable. Audiences will feel the same way, and that sense of unease is just beginning.
Grant’s Mr. Reed is inquisitive and kind, full of charming contradictions. He’s eager for a robust conversation on faith, but there’s something sinister lurking beneath that genial appearance.
Grant teases it out to perfection. He’s as scary as Freddy, Jason or Michael Myers, eventually .. but maybe not Art the Clown.
Who is, though?
Writer/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (“A Quiet Place,” “Haunt”) have plenty on their minds about faith, consumerism and western culture. Their screenplay evokes board games and musical lawsuits, catching us off guard.
Grant ties them into one, absurdist bow, never letting us forget the darker themes in play.
It’s mostly smart and sobering, and if you suspect the film has something sinister to say about organized religion you’ve seen one too many Hollywood movies. The story still won’t fit into that neat, predictable box. And the journey is so intriguing you may not realize you’re part of a cinematic finger wag.
Impressive.
Like too many horror movies, “Heretic” sets up a beguiling premise but doesn’t quite know how to wrap it up in compelling fashion. The third act feels more like a conventional horror film, complete with head-scratching twists and gore galore.
Beck and Woods are so firmly in command you’ll want to push past the narrative chasms. Some are still too much for any genre fan to swallow. Others are absurd, but the devious production design lets us swallow the silliness whole.
“Heretic” unleashes on organized faith, but it does so in a way that leaves some compelling wiggle room. That’s smart and oddly satisfying, a case of lowered expectations from an industry relentlessly wary of spiritual nods.
Still, it would be better if Mr. Reed’s adversaries brought something extra to the conversation. They’re more or less rhetorical punching bags, but the script empowers them in other ways.
The latter feels convenient, not subversive.
That’s a shame. A more robust third-act confrontation would have elevated “Heretic” above and beyond most genre frights. As is, Grant’s transformative turn is more than enough reason to recommend it.
HiT or Miss: “Heretic” gives star Hugh Grant his latest chance to shine, although you’d happily run away from his latest cinematic portrait.
