Heretic review – Hugh Grant’s move to the dark side is a triumph

Prancing about in comfortable knitwear, preparing pots of tea and slices of blueberry pie, Mr Reed plans to test the girls’ faith and show them a miracle. He explains that the only way out is down the stairs, through the basement and past a stooped, silent figure who is probably not Mrs Reed. Every religion, he argues, is an exercise in control. That may be the case with every good B-movie as well. Wringing the maximum mileage from its claustrophobic location, Heretic merrily spins us around and steers us towards darkness. It’s a tense, tight fairground ride of a film.