Heretic

AroView: A turn-of-the-screws horror-thriller from A24 studios and the co-writers of “A Quiet Place” that plays on the fiendish joke of giving two young Morman missionaries a taste of their own preachy medicine.

In his first horror film since the under-rated “Lair of the White Worm” (1988), Hugh Grant’s ghoulish charmer presents a theological case that might not be factually water-tight, but it is wickedly convincing within the rules of its wicked game. Things get more hysterical than heretical in the second half, but horror fans will likely forgive its flaws and cite it as one of the best of its genre in recent years.

“Never has pondering theology been so devilishly entertaining — and amen to that.” ~Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly

“It’s a helluva ride through the annals of religious history and the ways in which the concept of God has been bought and sold by charlatans and pop culture.” ~Jared Mobarak, The Film Stage

“An alternately clever and silly horror-thriller that wants to have a kicky, pointed dialogue about faith vs. reason, free will vs. preordination. It maybe doesn’t arrive anywhere profound, but it has a good time laying out its thesis.” ~Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair