47/42
Chronology
Two young religious women are drawn into a game of cat and mouse in the house of a strange man
The end credits contain the statement: “No generative Al was used in the making of this film.” I saw seven films at this year’s TIFF, and the one that got my vote for Best Picture was HERETIC starring Hugh Grant (who would also have gotten my vote for Best Actor if this were a category of vote). I was very impressed to see him get in touch with his dark side in the HBO miniseries THE UNDOING, but here he is at 11 playing a kindly, religiously obsessed psychopath.
It’s a break from his romantic comedy persona of schizophrenic proportions
Co-stars Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East are also excellent as two Mormon missionary girls who think they will call someone interested in converting to Mormonism. But Grant turns out to be far more erudite – and inquisitive – about religion than they expected.
So begins a game of cat and mouse where Grant puts his faith to the test
When they realize that he is not really interested in converting, but more in debating religion, they try to leave, but find themselves trapped inside. As horrors go, it’s solid, but it doesn’t reach the extremes of horror movies as claustrophobic as FUNNY GAMES (the original) and SPEAK NO.
The result is refreshingly unconventional
EVIL (2022 version). My only problem is that the choice of Mormonism for religion seems a bit calculated.
In short, see this movie if you’ve ever enjoyed a Hugh Grant movie and want to see him at the top of his game
I haven’t felt this confident about an acting Oscar nomination for a TIFF film since I saw Allison Janney in I TONYA in 2017. Side note: There was a Q & After the movie and several people praised me on the way out for a question I asked: “Was Richard Dawkins an influence?” Co-director Bryan Woods confirmed that it is.