By Shane Mead | Reporter
My favorite films are those that leave me thinking long after I walk out of the theater. When it’s a borderline low-budget film ($10 million) like “Heretic,” which released in theaters Nov. 8, the thoughtfulness makes it all the more impressive.
Beware, readers! There are spoilers ahead.
The narrative for this movie begins with two missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widerly known as the Mormon church. Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton are looking to convert members of their town. They end up at the doorstep of Mr. Reed, played by Hugh Grant, who had previously expressed to their church his interest in Mormonism.
However, conversion isn’t even close to what happens once the missionaries step foot into his nearly windowless, dimly-lit house. Mr. Reed questions the girls on their religion — some tough questions both to ask and answer.
The interrogation doesn’t stop there. The girls’ faith is tested as Mr. Reed continues to pry and eventually berates them about the Book of Mormon, causing them visible discomfort and leading them to attempt to escape the house.
One of the key questions Reed asks is “What is the one, true religion?” as he compares Judaism to “The Landlord’s Game” and Christianity to “Monopoly.” He explains that Judaism was the original and Christianity was the copied but better marketed version. He then compares the Mormon church to the offbeat “Monopoly: Bob Ross Edition.”
Reed continues in his speech to Barnes and Paxton, both women frozen and shaking in fear as they realize he won’t let them escape easily. He argues that LDS founder, Joseph Smith, produced written revelation to authorize polygamy so that he could cover himself for sleeping with multiple women, rather than including it for true religious purposes.
In all of this, Reed demonstrates superior intelligence, making his character complex, his motives difficult to understand and the whole situation completely unsettling. His cat-and-mouse game with Barnes and Paxton was the sum of an elaborate plan and I can not articulate it nearly well enough for this review to suffice. So I urge you — watch this film for yourself.
The climax ultimately leads to the revelation of Reed’s “one true religion” — control. He explains to a distraught Paxton that the only reason the girls were Mormon was because they were primed to believe since childhood. Throughout the film, he gave the girls decisions to make, creating the illusion that they were in control of their destiny. But Reed said they were easily predictable in that he knew which decisions they would make, leading them exactly where he intended, serving as his metaphor for their religion.
As I said, the sister missionaries’ faith was seriously tested in this film. Though Reed’s atheistic logic often dominates, the girls receive their time to shine and defend their beliefs through their own reasoning. It didn’t come often, but the girls would challenge Reed on occasion. Interestingly enough, his reactions to their opposition seemed to intrigue him even more.
The film sort of fell flat for me during the back half, as it got got a little too carried away. Nonetheless, I was so invested because of the early dialogue between the three characters, which is particularly carried by Hugh Grant’s exceptional performance as Mr. Reed. I found myself wanting to know where Reed was going with his points and how the girls would respond.
My biggest takeaway from the film was its criticism on how and why we believe what we do. It’s difficult to come to terms with the idea of your beliefs stemming from those before you, especially if the basis of your beliefs is nothing more than what you were taught at a young age. Much like this case with the sister missionaries, it can feel like your individuality is being stripped, causing you to question everything.
But maybe questioning everything is a good thing. Maybe understanding different perspectives strengthens your case for your belief system. The sister missionaries’ belief system was challenged head-on in its truest form via confrontation from Mr. Reed. He was persistent in giving them reason for doubt. But the film leaves the question up for debate: does the missionaries’ belief transcend their doubt?
