2024’s Heretic is a promising A24 horror movie that looks set to end a genre trend that has gone on too long. There are quite a few horror movie sub-genres. From haunted house movies to slasher movies to possession movies to home invasion movies, there is a horror sub-genre to suit almost everyone’s tastes. Even within the umbrella term “Religious horror,” there are a few different types of religious horror that don’t overlap all that much. The descriptor could be applied to both Midsommar and The Exorcist, but few viewers would argue that those two horror movies are similar.

The many A24 horror movies vary in terms of sub-genre, with the studio distributing a diverse range of horror comedies, slashers, psychological thrillers, and monster movies. From Saint Maud to Hereditary, numerous A24 horror movies could be classified as religious horror movies. However, many of A24’s critically acclaimed movies deny easy genre categorization. One of the company’s upcoming releases, the unsettling Heretic, looks set to be a nightmarish watch that will incorporate elements of horror, thriller, and drama. In the process, Heretic could end a horror sub-genre trend that has gone on for far too long.

A24’s Heretic Promises A New Type Of Religious Horror

Demons, Exorcisms, and The Devil Aren’t Central To Heretic’s Story

The trailer for Heretic sets out the movie’s ingeniously simple premise. Heretic follows a pair of Mormon missionaries who try to convert a seemingly friendly man only to become trapped in his labyrinthine home. The charismatic villain then forces the duo to venture into a complex maze that will test their faith in ways they never imagined. Heretic’s cast includes Hugh Grant as the villain alongside Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher as his pair of unsuspecting victims. Grant’s casting alone makes Heretic exciting since the rom-com mainstay is an inspired and unexpected choice for a horror movie villain.

However, it is Heretic’s premise that means the A24 horror movie could be the best religious horror in some time. Heretic’s religious horror doesn’t center on exorcisms, the devil, or demons, unlike The Omen franchise reboot The First Omen, Immaculate, The Exorcism, Late Night With The Devil, The Exorcist: Believer, The Pope’s Exorcist, and The Nun II (among others). This alone makes the release exciting, as it has been a while since viewers got a religious horror movie that centered on a human villain. As surprising as it may sound, these have always been a touchstone of the genre.

Heretic Brings Back A Classic Religious Horror Staple

Heretic’s Heroes Must Defeat A Human Villain

The term “Religious horror” might conjure up images of Father Karras and inverted crosses, but not all religious horror movies are about demons and supernatural threats. Since the genre’s inception, there have been religious horror movies wherein the protagonists must face the horrors of their own faith or the nightmarish zealotry of others. From The Wicker Man to Red State, to Children of the Corn, to Frailty, to Saint Maud, there are a range of religious horror movies where the central threat isn’t a religious figure. These movies are more concerned with humans whose faith has gone too far than anything supernatural.

As outlined above, religious horror has not been overly concerned with this side of the sub-genre in recent years. Some of A24’s best horror villains, like the unseen demon from Hereditary, are supernatural forces. However, plenty more of them are all too human. From X to Bodies Bodies Bodies, the studio has released a lot of classic critically acclaimed horror movies whose antagonists are entirely mortal. As such, Heretic could succeed even if the movie never reveals that Hugh Grant’s seemingly sweet villain is secretly some sort of inhuman monster with demonic origins.

Heretic’s Surprising Casting Makes A24’s Horror Even More Exciting

The Upcoming Horror Features Hugh Grant As Its Creepy Villain

Speaking of Grant, the star’s casting makes Heretic’s story all the more intriguing. The A24 horror has a strong central conceit, but casting Hugh Grant as a horror movie villain elevated Heretic since the star has always had a dark side. Grant first showed viewers his edgy streak in the classic rom-com Bridget Jones’s Diary, which subverted his cutesy screen persona by casting Grant as a sleazy, duplicitous cheat. From there, the Wachowskis took a gamble by getting Grant to play not one, but two different villains in their ambitious 2012 epic, Cloud Atlas.

Grant’s roles in Paddington 2 and The Gentlemen cemented his status as a big screen bad guy, and his role in 2023’s underrated Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves further reaffirmed this career shift. Now, Heretic can see Grant reinvent himself not as a playful comedic villain but as a genuinely unnerving screen presence for the first time ever. Having already been a rom-com hero and a funny pantomime villain, Heretic’s religious horror gives Grant a chance to show a whole new side.