In “Heretic”, Hugh Grant impresses as a diabolical theologian – rts.ch

Horror and religion have always gone well together. From “The Exorcist” to the recent “Immaculée”, via “The Curse” and other “The Nun”, cinema, the art of belief par excellence, has logically had fun questioning the foundations of faith. New example with “Heretic”, an A24 production which takes us to a small town in Colorado surrounded by mountains.

After an unsuccessful day, two young missionaries from the Mormon church, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), ring the doorbell of a certain Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). The affable sixty-year-old invites the duo in, reassuring them by claiming that his wife is cooking a blueberry pie. Cautious, the young ladies accept and discover a dark house, almost without windows.

The theologian then begins to question them on the foundations of their faith before demonstrating, with total erudition, that monotheisms and their ersatz, just like previous myths, repeat the same motifs in a sort of variation aimed only at one only goal: control. As for the wife, like the blueberry pie, as you can imagine, they are only decoys.

A psychological closed door

Behind closed doors, both geographical and psychological, particularly anxiety-provoking, supported by a precise staging which embraces the increasingly claustrophobic character of the film, “Heretic” poses a fascinating first part, preferring to easy effects of terror a progressive tension, a growing unease which relies entirely on the art of rhetoric, discourse, language.

The frontal attack on religions started by Mr. Reed is coupled with a questioning of plagiarism, in particular by the song “Creep” by Radiohead, but also by the game of Monopoly, which tends to emphasize that every belief system is based on manipulation, pure marketing, capitalism in short.

The brilliant idea of ​​filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (authors of the Nanardesque “65 – The Land Before”) is to have called on Hugh Grant, to whom we would give the good Lord without confession. Playing with delicious jubilation this Mr. Reed who oscillates between charming courtesy and authentic sadism, the star of “Notting Hill” puts all the sympathy that his person inspires at the service of a diabolical sixty-year-old who claims to denounce sexism, hypocrisy of religion and its charlatans. All while he himself exercises patriarchal domination over the women who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in his fortress. Opposite him, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East manage to bring into existence two young sisters who turn out to be much more complex than expected.

The butterfly's dream

Clearly under the influence of “Silence of the Lambs”, the two sisters and Mr. Reed replaying in a playful and religious mode the confrontation between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, “Heretic” subsequently adopts a less convincing direction, taking its characters into the basements of the house for a quirky test around the notions of miracle and resurrection. Closer to the average horror film, the film dilutes its initial interest in a series of twists and turns that are more artificial than really meaningful.

We would have liked the film to keep the promises of its premises and pursue the subversive potential of its subject to the limit, to draw the intellectual joust between Mr. Reed and his two recalcitrant guests even further, as it stands. closer to a monologue than to a verbal duel.

Still, the disturbing ambiguity of “Heretic” continues well after its final image, an image that must be linked to this “Butterfly Dream” mentioned by Mr. Reed, a Chinese parable in which a man wonders if he is dreaming of to be a butterfly or if he is a butterfly dreaming of being a man. An open ending, allowing multiple interpretations, which closes this devilishly twisted film, well above average.

Rafael Wolf/sc

“Heretic” by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, with Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East. To be seen in French-speaking cinemas since November 27, 2024.