A thrilling 2024 horror movie that produced an unexpected career turn for a famous British actor is proving a hit with Amazon Prime Video viewers.
Heretic, which starred Hugh Grant as the eccentric and creepy Mr. Reed, was released in November last year to widespread critical acclaim.
The film follows the story of two Mormon missionaries who visit Mr. Reed’s home after he expresses interest in joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The two missionaries – Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) – immediately realise they’re in a situation that’s more than they bargained for.
While Heretic only made back $60million (£44m) at the global box office, that was still roughly six times larger than the budget it was made with – $10m (£7m).
And critics were fans too, with Heretic currently boasting a Rotten Tomatoes critic rating of 91%, a critic score of 7.3 out of 10, and an audience rating of 76%.
The film was recently added to the massive libraries of horrors on Amazon Prime Video, and viewers are already sending it soaring up the trending charts.
@Matthieson4426 celebrated the turn from Hugh Grant: ‘Heretic. Hugh Grant is absolutely brilliant. Manages to make an unarmed middle aged man in a brown jumper epically scary. A great watch.’
Elsewhere, @MandoDameron was excited that ‘Heretic is on Amazon Prime at last!’ with a series of emojis implying they were running to watch it.
@MontyIsBlessed also couldn’t get enough: ‘Theologically thrilling and brilliant — I never imagined a movie and theology could bang this hard.’
@PaulDuncan67 said: ‘Hugh Grant gets better every time I watch him. Heretic is totally absorbing… It takes real talent to demand your attention with minimal players.’
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@Luluhit said: ‘I had no idea this film was so impressive, packed with exquisite dialogue. It’s like I’ve been in a classroom… They come back and tell you the truth right in your face.’
On Reddit, SomeGreatGoodThing joked: ‘I honestly can’t imagine something more horrifying than being trapped in a room with a man telling me his opinions on religion, so this movie really worked for me.’
As well as starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East, Heretic also features That 70s Show actor Topher Grace as Elder Kennedy, who makes a brief appearance in the film.
For Metro, film critic Tori Brazier described Heretic as a ‘horror reinvention’ and said Hugh’s career is now ‘less and less defined by his bumbling rom-com persona from the 90s’.
She also described it as an ‘intriguing prospect with its approach to debate and engaging Mr Reed in a confined cat-and-mouse chase with two Mormon missionaries’.
Heretic was co-written and co-directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the horror film super team who were also behind the 2018 apocalypse movie A Quiet Place.
Watch Heretic on Amazon Prime Video now.
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