Felt like being a cat today…

MEOW!!! 😸🐾

🍿 Major spoilers ahead!! 🍿

So, I decided to take myself on a movie date and see the new religious horror film with Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East: Heretic. I rarely ever go to the movies, but I felt drawn to see this one when I saw an ad for it on Youtube; in a nutshell, it’s about two young Mormon missionaries who knock on the door of Mr. Reed, a reclusive man who ends up embarking them on a dark journey within his home that tests their faith to the ultimate limits.

Why did I feel drawn to see this film? I actually went to a Mormon church for three years, from 2015-2018! My doorway into the religion was two young missionary women who I met on a walking trail in the spring of 2015. I’m pretty familiar with the Mormon religion, and while I didn’t continue going to church, I still feel I learned a lot of things that helped me spiritually in the long run! 💖

So, how did I feel watching this movie?

Psychologically and spiritually destroyed.

Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed is diabolical, methodical and maniacal. Truly.

Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton talk with Mr. Reed about their faith, and then slowly as the conversation continues, he completely disassembles religion as a whole, further emphasizing his point by throwing the Book of Mormon on the floor after comparing world religions to variations of the board game, Monopoly. You then realize the warm and fuzzies of faith have long left the building and you’re about to go through a maze of Hell.

The film’s tagline, Question Everything, is exactly what you do throughout the film. It makes you feel as if you’re going crazy, questioning each and every thing that occurs, and at one point, I wasn’t sure my mind could take it any more. But I held through!

This is no easy film to watch. If you have faith in a higher power, Mr. Reed dismantles it in a surprisingly effortless way with arguments that hit you in the face like a brick. The movie had me so shaken up that in one instance, I thought my seat was shaking, but it was actually my body trembling!

But, the unexpected thing about this film…is it actually embraces faith, in my opinion. There are little acts of warmth and kindness from the missionaries that give you hope and it feels so human.

A line by Sister Paxton stuck with me, and I’m just remembering it off the cuff here:

“We pray because it’s beautiful, even if it doesn’t work. Because we want to believe in something bigger than ourselves.”

No lie – when I got home and tried to explain the movie to my mom and sister, I ended up breaking down crying! I don’t think a movie has ever shaken me up so much. (No more scary movies for me!)

Later that afternoon, I went to the end of my apartment complex to take out the trash, still thinking about the movie. It’s a horror movie that makes you think long after it’s over. Another tagline for the movie poses the question, Do you still believe? Lost in my thoughts, I noticed a car was parked next to the dumpster, and my attention was caught by something in the passenger seat.

It was a seat cover with an image of Jesus Christ on it. Eyes closed, heavenly rays of light all around.

A line in the movie came to my mind as I stood there staring at it, feeling the chill of the autumn air around me. “If that’s not divine confirmation, I don’t know what is.”

As hard as it was to watch this movie, I’m glad I saw it, because it shook me to my core, and unexpectedly made me realize that I do, in fact, still believe. 🦋💖