Two young religious women are drawn into a game of cat-and-mouse in the house of a strange man.

I’ve got to be honest with you here, I kept putting off watching this film for a little while.

You see I’ve never been a fan of Hugh Grant. Growing up he was in every rom-com I was forced to watch, playing the exact same character in every film he was in, the bumbling love interest who eventually wins over the woman with his British charm.

Due to this I was initially hesitant about his casting, don’t get me wrong I knew this wasn’t another rom-com but I just didn’t know how he was going to be in this feature. Because of this I just couldn’t muster up any motivation to watch it.

Luckily I finally watched it and I have to say I’m extremely glad I did. Hugh Grant was excellent and I’d love to see more of him in this genre, I’m sure he enjoyed playing something completely different for him too. I’m fully here for his villain era.

Our other cast memberes were excellent too, though I have to highlight Sophie Thatcher. I thought she was absolutely incredible and I truly feel she has a great future ahead of her, another actor I hope apperas more in our beloved genre.

“Heretic” is a film I was pleasantly surprised by, it’s sinister, it’s creepy, it’s engaging and it certainly keeps you on your toes.

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If you want to see the “Heretic” trailer then just click on the video below:

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Miscellaneous facts about the film:

Hugh Grant once stated in an interview “I’m getting bored of playing obvious roles and being typecast.” Writer/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods saw this interview and wrote the character of Mr. Reed with Hugh as their top choice for the role.

Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East were both raised Mormon and were able to give valuable insight into the religion when shooting the movie. They are no longer Mormon.

Persuading Hugh Grant to take on the role of Mr Reed took around four months with the actor emailing directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods back and forth with questions about his character.

Hugh Grant improvised the moment when he meows in reference to what his favorite monopoly piece is which caused Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East to laugh during the take.

Hugh Grant’s name landed on Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ radar early in the writing process. They found it very difficult to entertain any other actor in the main role once they had him in mind.

The end credits feature the statement: “No Generative Al was used in the making of this film.”

This film landed Hugh Grant his seventh Golden Globe nomination.

Shot in chronological order.

Shot over a period of one month in Vancouver.

Bryan Woods’ chief inspiration in pursuing a work all about religion was the recent death of his own father.

While climbing/descending the stairs in the beginning, Sister Paxton brings up singing, and Sister Barnes mentions how she dislikes her own voice. Sophie Thatcher, the actress who plays Sister Barnes, performs a cover of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” that plays during the credits.

In order to keep Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East on their toes and engaged in the scene Hugh Grant would improvise and change lines like the moment Mr Reed mispronounced Angel Moroni’s name which caused Chloe East to improvise correct him.

None of the main characters are ever addressed by or receive a given name. They are simply known as Paxton, Barnes, Reed, and Kennedy.

Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods spent 10 years developing the film. One of the reasons this took so long was because of the meticulous amount of theological research they had to do.

Missionaries (Sisters or Elders) in the Latter Day Saints church travel with companions, and are not meant be alone while on their missions, but when Elder Kennedy (Topher Grace) was searching for the Sisters, he is without his companion. This is because he’s a service missionary.

The address of the house is 237, the same number of the room Danny was told not to enter in “The Shining.”

The moment when Mr Reed misheard Lou Gehrig’s disease as Blueberry disease actually happened to director Bryan Woods at a family dinner.

When the sisters enter the house and take their coats off, they remove their tags from their coats and put them on their shirts. Mormons will normally wear two tags; one for their coat and one for their shirt, to avoid this necessity.

Hugh Grant’s second horror film, after The Lair of the White Worm (1988).

The second A24 film to include miniatures, the other being Hereditary. Both are horror films.