The A24 horror film Heretic, which is coming our way from the writing and directing duo of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, has received a wide theatrical release as of today. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray enjoyed the film, giving it a 7/10 review you can read at THIS LINK (or you can watch the video version embedded above), and now we want to know: what do you think about Heretic?
Hugh Grant – whose credits include Notting Hill, Love Actually, Wonka, and Unfrosted – stars in Heretic, which has the following synopsis: Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
Grant has previously said that he finds villain roles to be “more fun” to play, so it should be very interesting to watch him take on a diabolic role in a horror movie. Bumbray said said Grant “radiates fiendishly clever intelligence, and he’s given a sadistic streak I didn’t see coming, which feels bold for a mainstream horror flick.” He is joined in the cast of Heretic by Chloe East (The Fabelmans) and Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) as the missionaries. (You can watch our cast interviews HERE.) Grant hasn’t done much horror in his career, but he did have a role in Ken Russell’s Bram Stoker-inspired supernatural horror comedy The Lair of the White Worm back in 1988.
Beck and Woods’ previous credits include A Quiet Place (they wrote the original script), Haunt (as writers/directors), Nightlight (writers/directors), Spread (writers/directors), the “Adam Driver vs. dinosaurs” movie 65 (writers/directors), and an episode of 50 States of Fright (writers/directors). They also (alongside Mark Heyman) received writing credits on the Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman – which happened to star Sophie Thatcher, who turned in a great performance in a movie I thought was just okay overall.
Now Heretic has been sent out into the world – and if you check out the movie on the big screen this weekend, come back here and leave a comment below to share your thoughts on it.