Religious/Horror Films
*Heretic* and Other Life Lessons
Film: Heretic (2024)
Written and directed by: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
Starring: Sophie Thatcher (Sister Barnes), Chloe East (Sister Paxton), Hugh Grant (Mr. Reed)
Dear Spiritual Seeker,
My friend made me watch this movie Heretic starring Hugh Grant, and I feel compelled to address some of the inherent religious questions presented by the psychopathic murderer in the film. The psychopathic murderer is played by Hugh Grant, and his name is Mr. Reed. (The flick could change your view of Notting Hill forever, mm?)
Let me start by saying that I am pretty careful about what content I consume. Once, I was visiting Mother Theresa’s convent in Rome and I sat in the chapel and I looked around with wonder at the books, the young nuns, the sun pouring through the open ceilings outside, and I saw a quote the nuns had written on the wall. It was something to the effect, “We only read that which deepens our spiritual selves,” or “We only read that which deepens our love for our Lord Jesus.” It was something of that nature, to suggest that they are careful about what they read and watch. Do Mother Teresa’s nuns have Netflix? I sure hope not. Maybe every once in a while, they gather in their white dresses for a PG film in the city in the afternoon, followed by a nice cappuccino. That sounds so lovely.
Those young nuns in Rome had a presence and a beauty in them, that made me nearly overcome with the joy of spiritual life. I saw the appeal of being one of the flock! (If you want to see a cinematic version of a woman who falls in love with the nuns’ life, watch She Came to Me, directed by Rebecca Miller, starring Anne Hathaway.) I nearly wept in every corridor of the nuns’ chapel, and was delighted that they let people like me in during certain hours of the day to pray and reflect.
(Though in the alley outside, some gross dude pulled out his penis so I would look at it. I didn’t. This is the way of Rome, and life, I suppose.)
So anyway, this horror movie Heretic (2024) feels to me like it was created from a person who was deeply spiritually wounded by the church. And so this person made a horror movie about the church and what monsters the church can create. My friend told me she thinks this film focuses on some important questions about what religion does and has done to people. About the kind of monsters it creates.
Okay. I hear that.
This movie was written and directed by a man named Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, and when the credits first appeared I wondered if Scott Beck was the guy I went to the 8th grade dance with, but I checked, and it’s not. Both guys do like they come from New Jersey, though, which is probably why they made this movie.
The premise of Heretic is that these two Christian missionary women (who I think are Mormon?) are going door to door to offer pamphlets to people, and one man named Mr. Reed, is really the devil in human form, and he ushers them inside under the guise that they are safe because he has a wife in the kitchen, making blueberry pie. He even has a bunch of religious books, including a worn copy of The Book of Mormon.
The girls are quite innocent and excited that at least one person wants to talk about God and faith and religion and Jesus, so they warily enter, under this assumption that the guy’s wife is in the kitchen.
Eh hem. Now. Clearly, there is no wife making pie, but Mr. Reed does have a candle burning on the table called “blueberry pie.” And he does want to get into the thick of religious teachings, so he can prove his points—or lack of a point—about God.
He’s just a sick guy. By sick, I don’t mean “awesome,” like the young kids say now. I mean, the guy is mentally disturbed and demonic. And sick guys sometimes—actually, often—use patriarchal religion to establish their superiority over others. They read the texts and they come up with these mental machinations and think they know things, because they think a lot, and they can really get people off-course with their wayward discussions and interpretations.
One thing you can pay attention to in your life is how much space someone gives you to respond and offer your own point of view. If a person gives you no space to offer a point of view or a reflection, then I would say they don’t really want to hear you—they just have their own agenda to conquer or control you.
There is no belief system to knowing God. There are beliefs, and then there is knowing someone. You can state beliefs about your friend, but usually you know the person and have experience engaging with them. And God is not some overarching authority that pulls the strings in this world. God is a love-friend who shows up to help you navigate life, if you so choose to have Her involved.
Your heart is bigger than beliefs. Your heart is a muscle, a powerful source of energy and vibration. If a person’s heart is not compassionate, kind, generous, forgiving, and gracious, then that person doesn’t know God, and that person has no place giving you any of their picayune opinions. Mm-kay?
It is true that many churches focus on a code or a doctrine. But sacred spaces can exist on your neighborhood street, or in your workplace, or in the coffeeshop, because sacredness occurs within you, on a vibratory level, and not from a code or system of beliefs that often are meant to designate some people as right and other people as wrong.
We all just find our best way in, and work with the road we‘ve got.
A Shambhala Buddhist teacher told me once, “You’re not going to get to the answer from thinking about it.”
I wish he could have helped this Mr. Reed fellow. This Mr. Reed is someone I don’t want to give much attention to, other than to say he is a symbol for the demonic or extremist side of religion. And what does the extremist side usually do? It finds a way to demean and control women. And kill people.
Our lives require discernment, and navigating what is false and true. We have to look at people’s actions, not just their words. And we have to listen to our deeply felt sense, and trust ourselves, and be in spaces where can breathe and relax so we know and feel what self-trust and self-love feels like. This is why I wrote my book, Letters to a Young Woman, from Paris. In it, I guide young women through energy chakras and share what it feels like to be loved and supported in your decisions and your unique path in life.
There are true prophets, true seekers, and there are false ones. False prophets are not known because their opinion is different from yours. False prophets are known by their actions over time. False prophets are known by the way they refuse to make space for people who are different than they are. False prophets are known by their commitment to violence—whether it is physical, psychological, spiritual, or financial. And these false prophets exist in all ethnicities, all religions, all political affiliations, all sports affiliations, and all genders, shapes, and heights.
Hatred is hatred, and it’s not from God. True Love is from God. Yet forgiveness can take time.
We all have a choice to believe in the dark, in the negative, in the horrors of the world and call that “religion.” But religion is very malleable, and people are religious about all manner of things. Some people are religious about their smartphones. Some people are religious about their selfies. Some people are religious about cars and social media posting. Some people are religious about how they know absolutely everything about everything.
Religion can be love. It can be resilience. It can be truth. It can be compassion, grace, and honesty. We get to choose our religion.
John Keats said, “Love is my religion.”
So if a guy is wearing a wedding ring, and he wants you to come into his house, and he says his wife is making blueberry pie in the kitchen, and you want him to become Mormon and that’s why you’re standing at his door—
Go see a different movie.
Doubt is a good one, directed by John Patrick Shanley, also starring Viola Davis (who wrote a beautiful memoir called Finding Me).
I just love the honesty of Doubt. The way we see the nuns live vs. the way we see the priests live. The way we see people genuinely wanting to do the right thing. The way we see people grappling within the parameters of their faith.
Is doubt required for faith?
Maybe.
Peace,
Ms. Wonderful
P.S. Hugh Grant, I may have a small part for you in this film I am writing set in London. Do you think you could play a cab driver?