Heretic was one of the titles that stood out from the flurry of Toronto. People will say it’s “very A24.” And I imagine that means Gen-Z will turn out. Hugh Grant plays the villain.
Heretic is sitting with a 92% on RT. Lauren Bradshaw at Fangirl Freakout says, “From its cerebral script to its enigmatic performances from Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East, Heretic has all of the makings to be the next horror classic.”
It looks to be a debate on traditional religion. Hollywood in general takes the approach that they do not need religion and in fact, Christians have become their sworn enemy. Rob Reiner calls them “Christian Nationalists.” This is a holdover from the counterculture revolution when the Boomers broke free from their religious upbringings, and/or traditionalism. But turns out all of these decades later, they did need religion after all and simply invented one. Now they all mostly live like Puritans and the whole thing has come full circle. You just won’t get that story in Hollywood now. Maybe someday.
I am looking forward to this movie if only because it isn’t an “Oscar movie,” which means it has wiggle room to tell a story outside the rules of “will they vote for it”…And yes, I am speaking like a heretic myself because, guess what? I am one.
“From writer/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East. HERETIC – In Theaters This Fall.”
