Heretic Sounds Like a Great Movie!

[Analytics]

On September 8, Heretic premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Here is what some folks who actually saw the movie are saying:

Lauren Bradshaw:

Wow, #Heretic was absolutely BRILLIANT! One of the most intelligent horror films I’ve seen. The film breezes along, with the suspense hooking you from the beginning & not letting go. I can’t imagine anyone other than Hugh Grant in a role that was seemingly made for him. #TIFF2024

Perri Nemiroff

#HERETIC is a mighty impressive performance showcase. Yup, it is just as much fun watching Hugh Grant veer hard into dark and twisted territory as you’d hope. Sophie Thatcher continues to be one of my favorite genre headliners. Her ferocity is top tier — as always. Chloe East delivers especially big here. She’s got quite a few scene stealing beats that live or die on her ability to nail timing and tone, and she knocks em out of the park.

BigScreenLeaks

#Heretic had no right to be as good as it was. To be frank, I was blown away. A horror film that focuses on religion and the different ideologies behind it, it manages to grab on to you and never let go over 110 minutes, utilizing its one location to perfection. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East prove once again why they deserve more roles, but the legendary Hugh Grant gives an Oscar-worthy performance and steals the show. Writers/directors Beck and Woods killed it and genuinely deserve a Best Original Screenplay nomination, it’s one of the best scripts this year. #TIFF24

Lauren Bradshaw

I truly think Scott Beck and Bryan Woods should be in the awards conversation for Best Original Screenplay for #Heretic. It is genius how the script perfectly balances humor, terror, and dogma. I am going to be thinking about this film for a long time. #TIFF2024

Erik Davis

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ #Heretic is a fun ride - a sharply-written slow burn that gets increasingly crazier as it goes along. It’s like a psychological thriller full of religious debate and frantic escape. Hugh Grant is terrific, and not just because he does the best Jar Jar Binks impression at one point. Definitely recommend. #TIFF2024

Ethan Dayton

#Heretic is an enthralling suspense ride from start to finish. #SophieThatcher and #ChloeEast are terrific. The perfect culmination for the last decade of #HughGrant’s career. Such a tight script- so many twists. See with a crowd. One of the best movies of the year! #TIFF #TIFF24

[bluebell]

I saw a preview for it.  It looks well made and I'm sure it's probably a really great movie if you like those kinds of movies.  I'd be interested in knowing if our religion plays an active part in it or if the movie is more about religion and belief than specifically our religion and our belief.

I have no plans to see it myself though, so I'll have to wait to hear from others.

[CV75]

20 minutes ago, Analytics said:

On September 8, Heretic premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Here is what some folks who actually saw the movie are saying:

Lauren Bradshaw:

Wow, #Heretic was absolutely BRILLIANT! One of the most intelligent horror films I’ve seen. The film breezes along, with the suspense hooking you from the beginning & not letting go. I can’t imagine anyone other than Hugh Grant in a role that was seemingly made for him. #TIFF2024

Perri Nemiroff

#HERETIC is a mighty impressive performance showcase. Yup, it is just as much fun watching Hugh Grant veer hard into dark and twisted territory as you’d hope. Sophie Thatcher continues to be one of my favorite genre headliners. Her ferocity is top tier — as always. Chloe East delivers especially big here. She’s got quite a few scene stealing beats that live or die on her ability to nail timing and tone, and she knocks em out of the park.

BigScreenLeaks

#Heretic had no right to be as good as it was. To be frank, I was blown away. A horror film that focuses on religion and the different ideologies behind it, it manages to grab on to you and never let go over 110 minutes, utilizing its one location to perfection. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East prove once again why they deserve more roles, but the legendary Hugh Grant gives an Oscar-worthy performance and steals the show. Writers/directors Beck and Woods killed it and genuinely deserve a Best Original Screenplay nomination, it’s one of the best scripts this year. #TIFF24

Lauren Bradshaw

I truly think Scott Beck and Bryan Woods should be in the awards conversation for Best Original Screenplay for #Heretic. It is genius how the script perfectly balances humor, terror, and dogma. I am going to be thinking about this film for a long time. #TIFF2024

Erik Davis

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ #Heretic is a fun ride - a sharply-written slow burn that gets increasingly crazier as it goes along. It’s like a psychological thriller full of religious debate and frantic escape. Hugh Grant is terrific, and not just because he does the best Jar Jar Binks impression at one point. Definitely recommend. #TIFF2024

Ethan Dayton

#Heretic is an enthralling suspense ride from start to finish. #SophieThatcher and #ChloeEast are terrific. The perfect culmination for the last decade of #HughGrant’s career. Such a tight script- so many twists. See with a crowd. One of the best movies of the year! #TIFF #TIFF24

 

[Analytics]

1 hour ago, bluebell said:

I saw a preview for it.  It looks well made and I'm sure it's probably a really great movie if you like those kinds of movies.  I'd be interested in knowing if our religion plays an active part in it or if the movie is more about religion and belief than specifically our religion and our belief.

I have no plans to see it myself though, so I'll have to wait to hear from others.

My impression is that it isn’t about your religion so much as about the specific religious beliefs and spiritual journeys of the two (or three?) specific characters in the movie. It might touch on some dogma that is unique to Mormonism, but the psychological dynamics of faith tend to be pretty universal.

[edvantageous]

1 hour ago, bluebell said:

I'd be interested in knowing if our religion plays an active part in it or if the movie is more about religion and belief than specifically our religion and our belief.

It appears that one of the producers of the movie, Julia Glausi, is a BYU grad and works for the film company of the writer/director duo. The preview I saw seemed to have an accurate portrayal of missionary life -- I hope the beliefs and characters of the missionaries will be respectful throughout. A24 has released some pretty disturbing movies, so it will be interesting to see how this one goes.

[Tacenda]

I think I will see this if it's crafted in a good way with a moral to it. 

[LoudmouthMormon]

I'm not automatically turned off.

I'm reminded that one of my top 10 SciFi series' is The Expanse, set in a realistic future.  The Mormons have commissioned a massive generation ship to take a 300 year journey to a new planet.  The ship gets stolen by pirates, and when they turn the massive thing around, the Angel Moroni hood ornament thing snaps off.  The pirates set up shop and the interior looks like an outer-spacey version of one of our temples:

 

[Stormin' Mormon]

1 hour ago, LoudmouthMormon said:

I'm not automatically turned off.

I'm reminded that one of my top 10 SciFi series' is The Expanse, set in a realistic future.  The Mormons have commissioned a massive generation ship to take a 300 year journey to a new planet.  The ship gets stolen by pirates, and when they turn the massive thing around, the Angel Moroni hood ornament thing snaps off.  The pirates set up shop and the interior looks like an outer-spacey version of one of our temples:

 

 

[bluebell]

1 hour ago, edvantageous said:

It appears that one of the producers of the movie, Julia Glausi, is a BYU grad and works for the film company of the writer/director duo. The preview I saw seemed to have an accurate portrayal of missionary life -- I hope the beliefs and characters of the missionaries will be respectful throughout. A24 has released some pretty disturbing movies, so it will be interesting to see how this one goes.

I hope the same.  I'm tired of movies that are so angsty and full of despair, but I'm hoping that if we are going to be a character in one, that they at least are respectful.

Welcome to the board.

[Pyreaux]

I'm sure that it might be a well-received film, but where I expect for Hollywood to go wrong are films that were only good because it preyed on the public's ignorance of the subject matter. Like a movie about computer hacking, history or martial arts, etc. Depicting complex matters for uninformed/stupid modern audiences to grasp and enjoy in adventures accentuated by questionable technical jargon, bling-bling graphics, and moments where truth, logic and often physics are blatantly disregarded. As long as you can leave the realm of reality firmly behind you, a film can be both wildly entertaining and utterly absurd.

There is some modern addressing for the concerns of audiences around the world about the lack of range, diversity, representation, depth, and accuracy when it comes to portrayals of the viewers own culture, religion, faith and spirituality. If they wish to write more diverse characters, they can hire writers and other talent who share the same religion as characters to ensure accurate portrayals or hire experts to help with religious portrayals. Will they?

As long as it's always just people of the secular left making films portraying characters from the religious right often confirms our suspicions about Hollywood's barely concealed contempt for faith. 

Edited September 9, 2024 by Pyreaux

[Dario_M]

How interesting. I think i wanna see that movie for sure. 

[ZealouslyStriving]

The Ward Radio guys reviewed the script awhile back. Worth a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Y5cEgGxi7so?si=n5zRT7uDFYwwUSmf

[Amulek]

20 hours ago, Analytics said:

On September 8, Heretic premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Here is what some folks who actually saw the movie are saying:

I looked into the film a bit when hearing about it previously and was not terribly hopeful based on the the writers/directors. Their best work to date has been The Quite Place, which I enjoyed well enough - even though it is the kind of movie that really just completely breaks down once you start to think about it even just a little bit.

I guess after whiffing it completely with 65, they have decided to go back to safer (more profitable) ground by making another horror film - only this time following the (again, not novel) pattern of casting a characteristically "good guy" actor as the villain - think Robin Williams in One Hour Photo or Harrison Ford in What Lies Beneath (which, by the way, was actually a pretty great, scary, and still PG-13 film).

I'm not categorically opposed to watching R-rated films personally, but I admit that I've never been a fan of horror as a genre. Pan's Labyrinth was probably the last one I watched that I considered to be a legitimately good film. 

I may end up watching Heretic, just so I can share my opinion with others, but based on the initial reviews I'm pretty much expecting it just to be the opposite of one of those (painful) God's NOT Dead films - though likely with better production values. I guess we'll see.

 

[Stargazer]

1 hour ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

The Ward Radio guys reviewed the script awhile back. Worth a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Y5cEgGxi7so?si=n5zRT7uDFYwwUSmf

Tried watching the script review. I keep trying to get into watching Ward Radio, but it's obviously directed at younger people. I'm either too old, or too staid and cantankerous. Or WA makes me feel old. Do you realize I'm almost 73? Hard for me to believe, until I stand up after sitting too long. 

One commenter to the video says "Why would you pay money to go to a theater and watch people make fun of our religion when you can get it for free anytime you want on social media?"

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, Stargazer said:

Tried watching the script review. I keep trying to get into watching Ward Radio, but it's obviously directed at younger people. I'm either too old, or too staid and cantankerous. Or WA makes me feel old. Do you realize I'm almost 73? Hard for me to believe, until I stand up after sitting too long. 

One commenter to the video says "Why would you pay money to go to a theater and watch people make fun of our religion when you can get it for free anytime you want on social media?"

Oh, in the movie they make fun of the sister missionaries? Not good if so, but was thinking maybe they'd be heroes or powerful. 

[Amulek]

2 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Oh, in the movie they make fun of the sister missionaries? Not good if so, but was thinking maybe they'd be heroes or powerful. 

No, that was merely one of the comments from somebody who watched the YouTube video.

I don't have any knowledge that the writers have any specific animus toward the Church. My suspicion is that the sister missionaries will largely act as placeholders for their commentary about Christianity / organized religion in general (which, spoiler alert, will still likely be mostly negative).

 

[Nofear]

9 hours ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

The Ward Radio guys reviewed the script awhile back. Worth a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Y5cEgGxi7so?si=n5zRT7uDFYwwUSmf

I definitely saved me some time listening to it for a bit (that the movie is a huge parade of silly tropes). Thanks for the link.

Spoiler: the sister missionaries violently kill their tormentor in the end (but one of the missionaries still dies).

Edited September 10, 2024 by Nofear

[bluebell]

33 minutes ago, Nofear said:

I definitely saved me some time listening to it for a bit (that the movie is a huge parade of silly tropes). Thanks for the link.

Spoiler: the sister missionaries violently kill their tormentor in the end (but one of the missionaries still dies).

Do they at least come out of the experience as atheists?  That would probably be considered a happy ending for that type of movie.  

[Nofear]

3 hours ago, bluebell said:

Do they at least come out of the experience as atheists?  That would probably be considered a happy ending for that type of movie.  

From the spoilers given in the podcast, the one surviving sister missionary crawls out of the labyrinth and a butterfly lands on her outstretched finger. The end.

I'm sure the director probably had all kinds of symbolic intent with that and the podcast might have mentioned some. By that time, my interest in the movie had declined enough that any such commentary failed to make an impact on my neural connections associated with memory.

[Calm]

On 9/9/2024 at 10:30 AM, Analytics said:

Sophie Thatcher continues to be one of my favorite genre headliners. Her ferocity is top tier — as always.

At least one of the actors has background…

Quote

Thatcher was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and attended Evanston Township High School.[4][5] Her family are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but Thatcher states she does not practice the religion anymore. She has three siblings: a brother named Alexander, an older sister named Emma, and an identical twin sister named Ellie.[5][6][7] She has described her family as "musical"; she sang in a church choir and her mother played piano.[8] She grew up singing and started acting when she was 4 years old. She went to a performing arts school for musical theater, and her on-camera experience led her to pursue acting more than singing.[9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Thatcher

Just read on reddit the other actor for the sister missionaries is an exmormon as well, but haven’t seen anything ‘authoritative’.

Edited September 11, 2024 by Calm

[SeekingUnderstanding]

4 hours ago, Nofear said:

Spoiler: the sister missionaries….

Not much of a spoiler tag. 

Edited September 11, 2024 by SeekingUnderstanding

[Calm]

Quote

Thatcher wanted the role so badly, she used her own upbringing in the Mormon church to convince the team to cast her. Though she’s no longer a practicing Mormon (“I do not agree with pretty much anything”), she loves her family and “didn’t want to portray any clichés.” “I wanted it to feel like my family,” Thatcher says. “My co-star, Chloe East, also grew up Mormon. I feel like we both did a good job of making it real and grounded and not a joke.”
 

https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a60637143/sophie-thatcher-hollywood-rising-interview-2024/

Edited September 11, 2024 by Calm

[Amulek]

15 hours ago, Nofear said:

From the spoilers given in the podcast, the one surviving sister missionary crawls out of the labyrinth and a butterfly lands on her outstretched finger. The end.

I'm sure the director probably had all kinds of symbolic intent with that and the podcast might have mentioned some. By that time, my interest in the movie had declined enough that any such commentary failed to make an impact on my neural connections associated with memory.

In one of the opening scenes the Molly Mormon sister missionary says something about how when she dies she hopes to be able to return briefly as a butterfly so she can land on the fingertips of those she knew - not on their arm, elbow, or anywhere else, but directly on their fingertip so they know it's her. If that's really how the movie ends, that strikes me as being kind of lame - not to leave open the possibility of an afterlife, but to bookend it in so glaring a fashion just kind of irritates me.

 

[bluebell]

1 hour ago, Amulek said:

In one of the opening scenes the Molly Mormon sister missionary says something about how when she dies she hopes to be able to return briefly as a butterfly so she can land on the fingertips of those she knew - not on their arm, elbow, or anywhere else, but directly on their fingertip so they know it's her. If that's really how the movie ends, that strikes me as being kind of lame - not to leave open the possibility of an afterlife, but to bookend it in so glaring a fashion just kind of irritates me.

 

If that's actually how the movie ends then I'm kind of impressed.  Usually these types are all doom and gloom, but I would read that ending as actually proving there's an afterlife and that it's happy and a 'you get what you want' kind of a place.  That seems kind of refreshing for the genre.   

[Doctor Steuss]

I just don't think I'll be able to suspend my mental image of Hugh as a perpetually goofy rom-com stereotype long enough to enjoy it.