Meet Mr. Heretic  Spoilers

Of all the serial killers that I have seen either in the small or big screen, there is none that is more dangerous and intriguing than Mr. Reed from the Heretic recent film. Dangerous because of everything that he is capable of doing in order to complete his purpose and intriguing due to being well inform of all religions in the world which serves him to gain control over his victims to make them convince themselves to go ahead as experiments under their own initiative.

It is been a while that I haven’t felt so sick and tense with a psychotic killer, applause to Hugh Grant for being unrecognizable as this sardonic and arrogance monster. It seems that sisters Barnes and Paxton never stood a chance. They were destined to fall in his web of lies as a consequence of their naivety and nobility to believe in his “kindness” and charming curiosity. And we can't blame them, after all, it is hard to believe that Grant was once the gentlemen from Notting Hill and Two Weeks Notice.

But that is the whole point of Heretic, to believe in something seeing that it sounds so good. If it makes you happy then that is enough to have a purpose in life. Without one, we will be lost. One of the points that really scared me was the perspective of faith from the human point of view. As a human race, we are a problematic species that contradicts everything all the time, and not only that, we also reinterpret the message according to our own benefit. Therefore, all religions by human nature are flawed. This truly scared me, to have share a similar thought. That and the Episode I - The Phantom Menace reference accompanied by a Jar Jar's impression. Priceless.

As a spectator, we get a feeling that there is something really wrong with this “religious man”, but being a very religious adventist kid in the 90's, I understand why both sisters decided to enter his demonic house and have a nice chat about theology and faith. If a stranger comes along speaking of God or holding a Bible as Mr. Reed does, you are naturally going to believe he is a good person, even if you don’t have any clue of his true intentions, specially his past. In your mind, there is no reason to questioned him as sadly happens nowadays.

Mr. Reed is well dressed, has manners, he is polite and intellectual, he knows exactly what to say and when to say it. Obviously, this is before he unleashed his darker side of which it does take some time to get. So patience is indeed a virtue in his favor and a death sentence for innocents like us and the sisters. It is geniusly terrible to witness this girls fall into his absolute control and not in a physical way.

There is nothing so lethal than a killer getting into your mind, making you do what he wants you to do and by your own desire. That is power, that is playing God which he obviously enjoys every step of the way while he prepares Barnes and Paxton to follow the path that he established since he turned fifty years old. This could be perceived as pure destiny; falling in the belief that we don’t get to decide what to do with our lives because God already decided what is going to happened to each of us.

The same goes for the sisters, Mr. Reed follow his game, teach them a lesson on their religion which I have to admit it was quite a disturbing revelation to discover how Monopoly and Radiohead connects to the analogy of religion that it is presented at large. Nothing about religion is original for him, and being aware of it gives him strength to used it as an advantage to fulfill his main purpose of which is the idea of control. That is how he ultimately defines true religion and he has a good point. It really hurts to admit it.

Like Jesus, he recruits women as disciples by breaking their faith and forcing them to play his game of resurrection every time he gets a chance. He loves to validate his truth through these experiments of his own. None of their victims are truly free as he makes them think, it is all about following his commands with extreme measure and consequences. Disobey or challenge him, it will end up really bad for them.

But taking into account how the story ends, his weakness was ignoring the concept of free will, due to underestimating one of the sister’s cleverness but above all, dismissing her true belief. Something that Mr. Reed lacks due to seeing every slave as a mindless tool to use, forgetting that any type of faith can be used against him not only as a shield, but as a weapon as it happens in this hooking and unforgettable finale.

All Said and done, Mr. Reed should be considered part of our favorite On-screen Killers even if Heretic flopped a the box office.