‘Heretic’ Review — A tense thriller that takes its time

A review of the new horror film, in theaters now

As Heretic opens, two Mormon girls sit on a bench and talk about condoms. Sister Paxton (Chloe East) is the more naive of the two, stuttering as she talks about having secretly watched a video of people having sex, which she calls “porno-nography.” She tells the more world-wise Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) that in the video, the couple were interrupted. On the shame-filled face of the woman, Sister Paxton says, she saw proof of the divine. She says, “You could see her soul being sucked away.”

Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton are on a mission in what seems to be the Pacific Northwest. Mere minutes into the film, they knock on the door of a man named Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), offering to share the good word of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Intrigued, he invites them in. They aren’t supposed to be alone with a man, but Mr. Reed insists his wife is just in the other room, baking a blueberry pie. What could go wrong?

What unfurls is a feature-length battle of wits, a twisted game where Mr. Reed challenges, confronts, and slices away at the girls’ faith. He’s a scholar of religion, actually, a man who’s spent his whole life searching for the doctrine that most perfectly describes his belief system. On the…