Scott Beck and Bryan Woods deliver a masterclass in anxiety-inducing tension with Heretic. Shot brilliantly with tight close-ups, Beck and Woods continually ratchet things up even as they present a theology lesson that is as conversation-starting as the film is unnerving.

Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) are young Mormons canvassing for converts and baptisms. They are living their best, if sheltered lives, confident in their beliefs. They are working their way through a list of possibles, and find themselves knocking on the door of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant).

What follows is a thrill ride that elevates the genre, and delivers a fantastic performance from Grant.

This is Grant’s film from the moment he appears on screen, and he knows it. He seems to have comfortably transitioned from the romantic comedy lead the world knew him for, and embracing a renaissance wherein the characters he plays let him explore his dramatic and comedic abilities in new ways, and in Heretic he gets to add being very creepy.

As Reed fences and parries with Paxton and Barnes about Mormonism, and religion, and delivers an enjoyable board game analogy, the young women realize that they (and the audience) may be in over their heads.

Part cat-and-mouse back and forth, Grant dominates every moment of the film, and it’s frightening how funny and terrifying he can be simultaneously.

It’s fascinating that an arguably main-stream film would be so bold with some of the theological comparisons it plays out. I thought it was wonderful and insightful, and it grounds everything that follows in a real struggle of belief.

The production design is layered and gorgeous to observe on the big screen, the minutiae that fill Reed’s home are detailed and fantastic, and that one transition shot! was brilliant.

Heretic is a stunning watch. I can’t remember the last time I sat in a theatre and felt so incredibly anxious watching how things played out for everyone. I was studying and questioning everything, just like the poster suggests, and it all left me wonderfully gobsmacked.

Beck and Woods amp up the tension, tweak the moments, build the horror and the anxiety and then give us the quick release of a laugh before turning it all up again, building until the final release.

A24 has another fantastic film on their hands and the three leads were amazing, but this is Grant’s film through and through – he’s smart, erudite, frequently funny, and absolutely terrifying.

Heretic screens one last time tonight, but it will be hitting theatres in November.