Two missionaries, Sisters Barnes and Paxton (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East), arrive at the home of affable Mr Reed (Hugh Grant). They have come at his request to deliver information on the LDS Church, but as they explain their Mormon faith, Reed’s questions grow increasingly invasive and unsettling.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ Heretic is an odd little horror film. With its limited setting and modest cast, it feels more chamber piece than symphony. It opens like an independent drama, and then transitions through an uncomfortable, deliberately mannered conversation into a sort of demented Ted Talk. By the time it shifts again into more conventional horror sequences it is almost disappointing that it does. This dialogue-heavy affair is at its best when engaged in a spirited polemic; once things turn violent and more actively suspenseful there are not so many places for it to go.

Much of the critical attention has dwelled on Hugh Grant’s heightened, oddly humorous portrayal of the mysterious Mr Reed. Grant plays on his popular persona as a sort of bumbling, awkward Englishman, but gives it a sinister twist. He is marvellously entertaining, although too many people are claiming this is his first horror film. The Lair of the White Worm apologists will, of course, remind you that it is not.

While Grant dominates the film, he only does so on the back of particularly strong performances by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East as Reed’s two increasingly suspicious guests. Church rules mean they cannot sit alone with a man in a room, and the longer Reed insists his wife is ‘just coming’, the more doubtful they become. When his interest in their religious beliefs turns into an interrogation of them, and they come to release they have become trapped inside, the conversation turns more provocative.

While there is a sense of a Wikipedia entry about Reed’s central position, it is reasonably smart, engaging stuff. Beck and Woods cleverly infuse their screenplay with moments of humour and absurdity, and also provide at least some elements of rebuttal to Reed’s views.

The film’s first half does an excellent job of building tension and upping the emotional stakes, but sooner or later it is required to deliver on its promises. It is there that the film does wobble slightly. In falling back on more tried-and-tested horror elements, Heretic does struggle to maintain its originality and boldness. It is still solid stuff, but does tend to drag the film back into conventional territory. By the end it is all rather preposterous and silly, more Saw than Psycho, but Hugh Grant’s winning antagonist and Thatcher and East’s likeable leads manage to hold the work together. This is absolutely one of 2024’s more entertaining horror features.