29/46
They are no longer Mormons
Tale
Two young religious women get involved in a cat-and-mouse game in a strange man’s house. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in Heretic and More Modern Women Killing Horror Game. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East were raised Mormons, so they were able to provide valuable insight into the religion during filming. The credits state that Generative Al was not used in the film.
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The Air That I Breathe Written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood Arranged and Directed by John Scott Performed by The Hollies. I saw seven films at TIFF this year, and the one that got my vote for Best Picture was HERETIC starring Hugh Grant (who would have also gotten my vote for Best Actor if that were a voting category). I was impressed to see him get in touch with his dark side in the HBO miniseries THE UNDOING, but here he pushes the envelope by playing a lovable psychopath obsessed with religion. It’s a departure from his romantic comedy of schizophrenic proportions.
Thus begins a game of cat and mouse as Grant tests their faith
Co-stars Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are also excellent as two Mormon missionaries who think they’re approaching someone interested in converting to Mormonism. But Grant turns out to be much more knowledgeable — and curious — about religion than they expected. When they realize he’s not actually interested in proselytizing but rather debating religion, they try to leave but find themselves trapped inside. For a horror film, it’s solid, but it doesn’t quite reach the extremes of similarly claustrophobic horror films like FUNNY GAMES (original version) and SPEAK NO EVIL (2022 version).
The result is refreshingly unconventional
.). My only reservation is that the choice of Mormonism as the religion seems a little ill-conceived. In short, watch this film if you’ve ever enjoyed a Hugh Grant film and want to see it at its peak. I haven’t been this confident about an acting Oscar nomination for a TIFF film since I saw Allison Janney in I TONYA in 2017.
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Note: There was a Q&A after the film, and several people complimented me as I left for the question I asked: “Would Richard Dawkins have been an influence?” Co-director Bryan Woods confirmed that…