Religious horror has always flirted with existential dread, but Heretic (2025), directed by Eliza Graves, is something altogether different: it’s a quiet explosion—a film that trades screams for slow-burning doubt, and demons for disillusionment. Marketed as a minimalist horror experience, the movie has polarized audiences and thrilled critics. What begins as a slow crawl into faith and fanaticism transforms into one of the most unsettling explorations of personal belief in recent horror memory.
The Premise: Doctrine Meets Despair
Heretic centers on Sister Camille, a progressive nun who is sent to investigate reports of miraculous activity at a remote rural convent that had been shut down decades earlier after a scandal involving child abuse and exorcism. Played with searing intensity by Jessie Buckley, Camille is not only a believer—but a doubter, too.
She arrives to find the convent re-inhabited by three women claiming divine revelation, led by the enigmatic Mother Benedetta (Tilda Swinton, in a chilling turn). But as days pass, Camille begins to question whether she’s witnessing a miracle... or a delusion weaponized by trauma.
“God doesn’t speak in signs. He speaks in silence. Are you listening?”
— Mother Benedetta
A New Kind of Horror
The scares in Heretic are psychological, rooted in manipulation, control, and spiritual unrest. No jump scares. No monsters. Just flickering candlelight, whispered prayers, and the unbearable weight of unresolved guilt.
[Key Scene Snapshot]
The Communion Ritual: Camille is forced to partake in a mass where wine is replaced with salt water—symbolizing purification through pain.
Confession Booth: Camille confesses to doubting the existence of evil, only to find there’s no priest on the other side.
The Silence Room: A chamber where no one speaks, but all hear the same voice.
Performances: Controlled Chaos
Jessie Buckley’s Camille is a masterclass in emotional erosion. Her faith is tested not with spectacle, but with silence. Tilda Swinton, meanwhile, is terrifying not through volume but through restraint.
[Cast Highlights]
Jessie Buckley (Camille): Fragile yet defiant; the audience’s tether to reality.
Tilda Swinton (Mother Benedetta): Icon of religious power turned toxic.
Nico Hiraga (Father Daniel): A young, skeptical priest who disappears halfway—perhaps by choice.
In Color: Visuals are washed in ochres, deep browns, and faded golds—evoking antique religious paintings. Sudden use of stark white light symbolizes divine presence—or mental collapse.
Themes: Belief as a Weapon
Heretic is as much a horror film as it is a theological thesis. It challenges:
Blind obedience: Camille’s training is turned against her.
Gendered power in religion: The convent’s matriarchal structure creates new hierarchies—but the same corruption.
Spiritual gaslighting: The line between faith and fanaticism collapses.
“You don’t believe because it’s true. You believe because you’re afraid of what happens if you don’t.”
— Camille
Ending Explained: Revelation or Ruin?
The final act reveals that the women at the convent were former victims of clerical abuse, recreating rituals to reclaim spiritual control. Camille joins them—but not out of belief. Out of exhaustion.
The last image? Camille, now robed in white, leading mass to an empty chapel, staring directly into the camera as the Latin phrase “fide ex nihilo” (faith from nothing) fades in.
Some see it as empowerment. Others as surrender. Either way, it haunts.
Critical Reception
“Eliza Graves has crafted a horror film with the soul of a sermon and the heart of a scream.”
— The Guardian
“Minimalist, meditative, maddening. You’ll leave with more questions than answers.”
— Bloody Disgusting
Audience reactions vary widely—some hail it as “the First Reformed of horror,” while others deride its pace and ambiguity.
Should You Watch It?
✅ Yes, if:
You enjoy thought-provoking horror like Saint Maud, The VVitch, or Rosemary’s Baby.
You’re interested in spiritual themes and religious symbolism.
You can handle slow pacing and open-ended narratives.
⛔ No, if:
You need traditional scares.
You dislike ambiguity.
You want resolution or catharsis.
Final Benediction
Heretic isn’t a horror film for everyone—but it is a film about everyone: our doubts, our fears, and our yearning for something bigger than ourselves. It will sit with you, fester in quiet corners of your thoughts, and echo long after the credits roll.
A question it never answers—but forces you to ask:
What if the most terrifying thing isn’t losing your faith—but finding it in the wrong place?
Streaming Now On:
A24+, MUBI, and Apple TV (Limited Release)
