Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: HERETIC [Toronto Intl Film Festival 2024 - Toronto, Ontario]

While A24 brings interesting elements to bear, the new psychological horror film “Heretic” [Special Presentations/World Premiere] with the writers behind “A Quiet Place” and subsequently directors of “65,” bring it back to basics with a taut but not simple script that is wonderfully visceral and connected. It is the best work from Hugh Grant in a long time because it challenges him and is meaty to work with. The intellectual structure of its religious context about belief and abstract concept require focus but are undeniably cinematic. Its discourse pushes the innocence and corruptability of its two young female leads. They are sisters promoting the Mormon faith against a man of undeniable vitroil along with charm and intent. The movie keeps moving down corridors but one’s motivated by speech while still keeping the stories riveting. A Monopoly concept mixed with an essence of a well used song (and its counterpart - which is a fairly big get - even if it doesn’t reverberate with today’s youth) very much brings it home.

While a more baseline concept than their last film, the movie does require you to listen to your charactersand is remarkably high concept in how it does that. While there is a bit of pandering with Grant’s character that is part of the build by design. The religiosity context is simply a by-product to talk about control which is the base construct of the movje. As the audience it is not as important that he is doing it or how he is doing it but why. While there are no allusions to what he actually is, there is no elements against it. The movie does not gripe on elements of the supernatural (like many do because of their sell or perhaps certain bouts of laziness) though it does feed the viewer certain misdirects about it. However, that is why it is comes across so well crafted because it understands expectations but it is able to lift ur past the genre. “Barbarians” tried to do something similar in a way but the acting, structure and simple intelligence weren’t enough. That is not the case here “Heretic” knows exactly what it is doing and how to do it. A

By Tim Wassberg