Believers are often levied with the question in regards to their faith such as “With so many religions and denominations in the world how can you possibly be certain that your religion is true?”  

The short answer to that question is simply Jesus. 

While many religions of the world will tell you that Jesus Christ is one way to righteousness, The Bible is the only one that claims that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by him, a claim every other world religion rejects. When you’re dealing with an industry such as Hollywood that doesn’t allow the name Jesus to be said unless he’s being mocked and ridiculed, almost as if Satan controls that town. 

It is very difficult to lay out the case for Christ in the industry that would rather have that message be silenced. Case in point the film presents audiences with the religion of Mormonism as the barometer by which biblical faith is judged and I hate to break it to the Latter-Day Saints but that is the furthest thing from the truth. The film stars young Mormon missionaries as they travel on their door-to-door mission trips seeking to spread the gospel of their Prophet Joseph Smith.  

The young girls meet an older gentleman played by Hugh Grant who wants to speak to them more about the origins of their religion. As the conversation begins to become more challenging the girls realize that they have been brought to the house under false pretenses. This old man has no desire to become a Latter-Day Saint but rather seeks to destroy all religions and those who profess them. If these ladies have any genuine faith in God then they will need it to escape a genocidal gnostic’s House of Horror that comes with one surprise after another.

Let’s go ahead and dress the elephant in the room,  you may need to take a seat for this one.  Mormons are not Christians. Neither are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, nor Roman Catholics. Now that we got that out of the way let’s address the theological issue with the film. Hugh Grant plays the character of Mr Reed who kidnaps and terrorizes two Mormon girls in an attempt to get them to understand that when it comes to religion all religions are false and the ultimate goal is to control people.

The film takes the Gnostic approach of attacking faith through the lens of manipulation and control. In other words, true religion in their minds comes from a rejection of Christ. The movie presents a conflict but does not offer a solution. This is why the choice was made to make the protagonist of this film Mormon rather than Evangelical Christian.  

In the eyes of Hollywood, it is easier for them to sympathize with a religion that perverts the gospel of Christ rather than have two young women who preach it. The film also exposes how illiterate it is the realities of the same religions they are going out of their way to criticize.  For example, at one point in the movie Mr Reed Likens the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as nothing more than cheap imitations of one another without addressing any of the core theological issues that would make a statement like that incorrect. 

Pandering to those who already have jaded views of faith but know nothing about the religions that they’re criticizing outside of their existence. The premise is laughable in a believer’s eyes but entertaining in a secular mind’s eyes. This is a strictly psychological horror film that has elements to this story that make it a genre winner. 

Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East Star in the film, Both women have histories inside of the Mormon church but have left the LDS and remain in unbelief. The actors essentially bring to life their real-life struggles Within Mormonism see themselves not truly believing what they preach but only doing so because the religion requires it. The Dirty Little Secret this movie is that while the film criticizes religion and faith,  what they miss Is that people rely on religion in the absence of faith, not the other way around. 

There are a lot of parallels in this movie to 2021 the black phone which is also a movie about a Madman kidnapping and torturing young individuals. The tension of the film revolves around revealing the attention of Hugh Grant’s character and why he is going to such lengths to torture these women. The film ends on a rather flat note especially knowing that there’s likely no way this film to receive a sequel, to begin with Despite its low budget.

From a Biblical standpoint, Heretic is a philosophical debate on theology that attempts to ask the question of why people believe without addressing who people believe in making the debate a moot one.  As a film,  Heretic is an unsettling Thriller movie with twists and turns that you will likely enjoy as long as you don’t actually try to apply logic to its theological arguments.

2.5/5 

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