Kane52630
Jingle Bells Batman Smells
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2009
- Messages
- 120,842
- Reaction score
- 57,966
- Points
- 218
Heretic
A true story of what all your philosophy professors were doing during the pandemic, worshiping Jar Jar Binks and playing Monopoly Ultimate Banking while listening to Lana Del Rey and lighting a blueberry pie-scented candle.
What a fantastic horror/thriller that is entirely built on the uneasy tension of conversations about certain topics like belief and religion. Scott Beck & Bryan Woods did a great job crafting a movie that uses the setup of a typical horror movie but expands on it and keeps you invested and guessing where it could lead. There are a lot of familiar horror elements that are definitely inspired by like Saw, Barbarian, Cube, The Descent, and even Martyrs to some extent but not as gory. The movie is entirely built around the clever script and the fantastic performances rather than the scares which there are very few. Hugh Grant was incredible in this and it was very much a movie that was made for him. I thought Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East were also fantastic in this who play two Mormon missionaries and I'm glad they didn't write them as typical socially inept "religious freaks" which works in the movie's favor for a more in-depth conversation about religion and its institutions. The movie does a great way of questioning belief but also not quite talking down to anyone who believes. I thought the first half works more than the second half but the second half is where you get a lot of the typical horror tropes but they still work in the context of the movie and I really like how it ends. Overall, it's yet another terrific horror film in a year of great horror films.
4/5