Heretic Review & Analysis
Amount Of Times Watched (in theaters): 2
Written By: Ella Collins
Heretic raises a lot of questions not necessarily about individual religions, but rather how we as people think about and view it as a whole by means of control. Many people consider seeing the quickest way to get someone to believe something, but have we ever considered feeling a way of believing? If something makes us feel what is considered to be 'the correct way' then does that make it true? Or even if we are told something is true does that make believing it any easier? Belief and trust run hand in hand. A lot of these questions arose while watching Heretic.
We as human beings with limited knowledge about all of this are always trying to find which answers are the correct ones and discover that one true religion to which the idea of different iterations is brought into the conversation and the fact that, according to the movie, all religions are trying to get across the same message just in a multitude of different ways. Religion is compared to the game Monopoly to further the discussion of iterations but I also feel the comparison is made in order to show that each religion is ultimately just like one big game of monopoly. The phrase mentioned by Mr. Reed "the more we know, the less we know" calls upon the idea that if we end up searching too deeply then that only leads to more questions, some of which are not always answerable, so sometimes it is better to leave well enough alone.
This movie also makes a point to show that, just as iterations can, there are people who like to play God (as we can see Mr. Reed did with the two sisters) which could get the intended message lost in translation. I noticed that the way this movie is carried out is a representation of the feeling some have when it comes to religion. Just as the girls were trapped and unable to leave the home, some feel this way in terms of religion one way or another. You must also remember a religion is nothing without its believers. Heretic was very much a story of faith and belief just as much as it was challenging those beliefs. Especially those engraved in us since we were born, which is why I feel a lot of the movie, especially towards the end, focused on Sister Paxton, who was born and raised in the church and, up to a point, was firm in her beliefs. While I still think that by the end of the movie she held onto her beliefs, the firm foundation they were on started to crumble away.
​ This movie also calls into play the art of deception which ultimately ends up being a major point the movie attempts to make whether it be with the prophet or even with prayer. Deception is used in this movie as a form of control, because what is control without some form of deceit. The primary message behind this movie is that "the one true religion...is control". The thought process of "I didn't choose, you made me choose". One will believe anything as long as they are told or misled into thinking, feeling, or even seeing it is true. Heretic, as mentioned before, raised a vast amount of questions, not necessarily about individual religions themselves, but how we perceive or are being told to perceive. I thought it was quite interesting though that throughout the movie, in order to prove that there is no higher being, Mr. Reed ended up playing that higher being. He used belief as part of his attempt to prove his disbelief.
