Heretic

I don’t get scared easily by movies, but the beginning half of this one had me saying a Hail Mary, and I’m not even religious. Something about it just really unsettled me 😭. I think it’s a great movie that shows how unhealthy it is to cling too hard to religion without real basis, but also how unhealthy it is to rely on only fact and reason as a method of understanding people and life— both are far too unpredictable.  I liked the final bit where Sister Paxton says something about knowing that prayer does nothing, but liking to do it anyway. I also liked Sister Barnes’ statement about there being a whole spectrum between belief and disbelief when it comes to religion. Religion exists in that weird gray area for me as well, and I liked to hear that be acknowledged. The Monopoly-religion comparison weak, but I think that was sort of the point? (Or I’m just English teacher-ing) Like, whether it’s true or not, religion tackles such impossible questions and fears that there’s not really anything you can accurately compare it to. There’s too much nuance to it. Same thing goes for the control theme— while I do think that religion is primarily used for control and persecution on a large scale, there’s also a great amount of comfort that it brings to individuals, and both of those things are important to acknowledge. I liked that the movie didn’t seem to praise or put down religion or atheism, at least the way I saw it. Obviously Hugh Grant is the Big Bad in this, but then you have these two women who are advertising a religion that has brought so much pain and suffering on so many people since its founding.  Overall I really liked it, and it gave me a scare lol