10 Exact Moments Horror Movies Stop Trying

5. Heretic (2024)

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ psychological horror Heretic promised to give us what we didn’t know we needed just a couple of years ago: an eccentric, homely Hugh Grant-turned-malevolent abductor. 

Continuing a recent spate of playing against type, Grant ensnares us as the quirky Mr. Reed, a man who lives in a cottage outside of town and welcomes young religious types who seek to convert him. His visitors on this occasion are Mormon Sisters Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Paxton (Chloe East), come to induct him into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it soon becomes apparent he’s invited them in for more than a chat and a cuppa.

Mr. Reed, it turns out, is a bit of a psychopath, who wants to play a game with the girls, tempting them with challenges to either defy their religion or prove their faith. And the mystery of the thing is tantalising, as Mr. Reed draws the young women deeper into his labyrinthine home and expounds on his theories and research connecting the world’s religions back to their root, promising to reveal to them the source: the one true religion.

This all leads Sister Paxton to a room of caged women, and the revelation that there is no supernatural religion at all. Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) monologues about control – or the desire to control others – being the true religion. Great setup, great idea, but it cops out and quits trying at the final hurdle.