Heretic (2024)
The film begins with two Mormon missionaries, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), sitting together and talking about pornography. Paxton reveals that she once watched a video and felt sympathy for the actress in it. As they go about their day, trying to spread the word and convert others, they encounter a group of teenage girls who play a cruel prank on Paxton, pulling down her skirt to see if she’s wearing “magic underwear.” Paxton opens up to Barnes about how people often mock their faith, though Barnes doesn’t seem to be bothered by it.
As heavy rain starts to fall, the missionaries arrive at the home of an Englishman named Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). He invites them inside, mentioning that his wife is home, which reassures the girls since they need another woman present to enter. Reed tells them that his wife is baking a blueberry pie, and they settle in to discuss their mission.
The conversation takes an unexpected turn as Reed reveals he has done his own research on Mormonism and even owns a copy of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith. They talk about different topics, including Sister Barnes’s father, who passed away from ALS, and their shared rule of not discussing Taco Bell. The atmosphere becomes tense when Reed makes a remark about Barnes’s father and their religion, before stepping out of the room. Sister Barnes then notices a candle on the table, the source of the blueberry pie’s scent, and her thoughts linger on the uneasy conversation.
Barnes and Paxton begin to feel uneasy as they suspect there is no Mrs. Reed in the house. Trying to leave discreetly, they realize the front door is locked, and they have no signal to call for help. They make their way through the house, hoping to find an escape, only to stumble upon Reed in his study, surrounded by an impressive library. As they try to politely excuse themselves, Reed offers them an unsettling choice: two doors, one labeled “belief” and the other “disbelief,” both leading to an exit.
Reed then pulls out something unexpected, a vintage version of the Monopoly board game. He starts lecturing the missionaries about the game’s origins, explaining how it was derived from a board game called The Landlord’s Game. He also ties this to the song “The Air That I Breathe” by The Hollies, claiming that its elements were used in the song “Creep” by Radiohead. Through this long-winded explanation, Reed reveals his belief that all religions are flawed, each stemming from what he calls “the one true religion.” He challenges the missionaries to choose a door based on their faith in God. Barnes defends her beliefs, and she and Paxton choose the “belief” door.
The door leads them into a dark, underground dungeon with no way out. Reed’s voice comes through a speaker, and moments later, a decrepit old woman, referred to as a “Prophet” (Elle Young), enters, holding a messy blueberry pie. Reed tells them they are about to witness a miracle. He reveals that the pie is poisoned and that the woman will be resurrected shortly.
Back at the Mormon church, Elder Kennedy (Topher Grace) realizes that Barnes and Paxton have not signed back in, so he sets out to check on the homes they were supposed to visit. When he arrives at Reed’s house, Barnes and Paxton desperately try to get his attention, first by screaming and then by trying to start a fire with some matches. But Kennedy leaves before they can do anything. Meanwhile, the Prophet begins to mutter about the afterlife, suggesting that the resurrection may indeed be happening.
Reed comes down to the dungeon, gloating about the “miracle” he’s orchestrated, claiming he can sacrifice one of them and bring them back. But Barnes, with newfound clarity, tells Reed that this isn’t a miracle. She shares a painful truth with him: the reason she and Paxton don’t talk about Taco Bell is because Barnes had once died from an E. coli infection, and her near-death experience was eerily similar to what the Prophet had described. Before she can explain further, Reed slashes her throat, insisting she’ll come back.
Minutes later, Reed examines Barnes and realizes that she cannot be resurrected. He cuts into her arm, finding a metal pin inside, which he claims is a microchip. He accuses Barnes of never having been real and suggests that Paxton’s reality is a lie as well. Paxton, defiant, reveals that the metal object is actually a contraceptive device, exposing Reed’s lies. She also reveals that the first Prophet did die, but the resurrected Prophet was another woman, given a script by Reed to describe the afterlife. The second woman, however, secretly switched places with the first, revealing the truth when she told the missionaries, “It’s not real.”
Paxton, determined to uncover the truth, descends into the trap door where the dead woman had been, a place Reed allows her to explore, convinced she will see the “one true religion.” What she finds shocks her: women caged like animals. She comes to a grim realization: in Reed’s mind, the “one true religion” is control, manipulation, and cruelty—especially since he tried to manipulate them into thinking suicide was their own choice. As Reed taunts Paxton, she takes her chance and stabs him in the throat with a letter opener that Barnes had given her earlier for protection. She runs, but she doesn’t get far before Reed stabs her in the gut with the same opener.
Both of them, bleeding out, face their fate. Reed tells Paxton to pray for them, but she scoffs, saying that prayer is just an act of kindness, not a solution. She starts to pray anyway, while Reed crawls toward her, determined to finish what he started. Before he can reach her, he is struck in the head with a plank of wood, nails protruding from it, killing him instantly. The blow was delivered by Sister Barnes, who, though mortally wounded, manages to give Paxton one last moment of protection before collapsing into her arms.
Paxton, now alone, finally finds a window to escape through as the storm clears and dawn breaks. As she steps outside, a butterfly lands gently on her hand. Earlier, she had jokingly said she’d like to come back as a butterfly when she dies. She looks at the butterfly for a moment, but when she turns her gaze away, it vanishes, leaving her with a fleeting sense of peace.