Heretic, the new film by directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods — the writing duo behind A Quiet Place — is slowly climbing up the box office ranks in a year that hasn’t been forgiving for the horror genre. Heretic debuted last week to positive reviews, and stars Hugh Grant as a mysterious man who puts a couple of young missionaries through hell when they come knocking at his door. The film is being distributed domestically by the hip indie outfit A24, who released the horror films I Saw the TV Glow and MaXXXine earlier this year.
With $11 million domestically and over $4 million from overseas markets, Heretichas hit the $15 million mark globally in less than a week of release. Produced on a reported budget of around $10 million, the film is shaping up to be a quiet little win for A24, who experienced major success earlier this year with the dystopian thriller Civil War. Heretic holds a “fresh” 92% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, but a rather low C+ CinemaScore that it seems to be defying with every passing day. In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime praised Grant’s “haunting” performance, but noted that the film falls into “a disappointing purgatory in the final third.”
Beck and Woods broke out as the writers of John Krasinski’s first A Quiet Place film. They went on to direct the science-fiction thriller 65, starring Adam Driver, but the movie didn’t exactly do well at the box office, grossing around $60 million worldwide against a reported budget of $45 million. Heretic is the kind of horror film that’s had a better chance of success this year, which has seen the failure of several mainstream offerings from major studios.
‘Heretic’ Defied a Poor CinemaScore
For instance, while films such as Imaginary, Night Swim, The First Omen, Abigail, The Watchers, and Tarot have all struggled at the box office — none of them were able to pass the $50 million mark domestically — more indie-minded films such as Terrifier 3, Longlegs, and Late Night with the Devil have done exceedingly well. More recently, Paramount’s Smile 2 has shown some promise, grossing over $60 million domestically so far. The highest-grossing horror film of the year remains A Quiet Place: Day One, which has generated nearly $140 million domestically.
Heretic continues Grant’s grand run of playing characters that don’t necessarily align with his long-held image as a charming romantic lead. He played the devious villain in last year’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and will soon be seen in Paddington in Peru. Also starring Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, Heretic is playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed, becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
- Director
- Scott Beck , Bryan Woods
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