What REALLY happened at the end of Heretic? This is my full movie recap, review and ending explained of the new A24 film, a Hugh Grant horror movie with Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East as Mormon Missionaries trapped in a game of cat and mouse with Hugh as the villain. Like & subscribe for more like this, more movie reviews, TV show recaps and what to watch! NEXT: Longlegs Ending Explained - https://youtu.be/LwUaqOQTwwo ✅ My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madmorph ✅ My FREE audiobooks for sleep: https://youtube.com/@DownToSleep ✅ My Gaming Channel: https://www.youtube.com/MadMorph All my links: https://MadMorph.com Join the MadMorph Movie Club, an official channel by @MadMorph for movie analysis, reviews, TV season recaps, reactions, thoughts and more. First time watching, ranked & rated tier lists and more. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTAGE IS FAIR USE - Everything is edited, transformed and narrated by me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHO IS MADMORPH? Content creator, gaming YouTuber, Audiobook Podcaster, Twitch Partner, & TikTokker, I love movies & TV so this is my channel for talking about that!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COPYRIGHT: This recording and commentary are my own content, created and edited by me, this is the official YouTube channel for MadMorph Movie Club and this content is not reused from anywhere else. All footage is recorded and edited by me, other footage is always fair use ,with unique commentary, review, reaction & edits made by me. For the purposes of entertainment and educational content, constructive review & analysis. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0:00 Intro - What is Heretic about? 0:50 Heretic - Full Movie Breakdown 19:00 Heretic Ending Explained 23:00 Alternative Endings 26:00 What did the writer / director say? 28:00 The truth about Barnes and Paxton 30:50 Who is Mr Reed? Why does he do it? 32:00 Heretic Movie Review
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This film is terrifying. Imagine having Mormons inside your home...
I want to know who approved these building permits.
You didn't mention the phone at the end when she climbs out of the window. It still said no service when she drops it outside, while they had service outside before going into the home. I think she never left and she's hallucinating/dying.
In addition to Paxton admitting to her disbelief in prayer, she also explained she wished to reincarnate as a butterfly. Reincarnation is against Mormon beliefs, so her offering to choose the door of disbelief was on-brand as she's demonstrated a few times that she isn't a genuine believer
Who else thought the guy from the church was going to see their bikes? I was screaming “THE BIKES! THE BIKES!”
The ending is like the "belief" and "disbelief" doors leading to the very same room
The real miracle in this movie was how long that phone battery lasted with how often the flashlight was being used
Hugh Grant deserves an Oscar. His acting was INCREDIBLE
Going from an Oompa Loompa to this is devious work
I don't think the metaphor of Dante's Inferno is being discussed enough. I felt as if the entire house represented the inferno, as they climb deeper and deeper down, each circle feeling more and more hopeless, and Paxton eventually returning to the top/heaven by way of her faith. Curious to hear more connections between the house and the inferno.
BTW, the snow should demonstrate that there is no way a butterfly would be there.
I’m just loving Hue Grant’s Renaissance. From romantic leading man to quirky character actor who remains at the height of his powers. Some argue that he’s even better now than he’s ever been. His range has certainly surprised me, since he seems capable of doing anything. More power to him.
Not to mention the butterfly at the end again but in addition to the butterfly disappearing, it got deadly quiet suddenly. No outside noise anymore and she acknowledges it. Credits. This seems to me that she died in that moment. Meaning she went through all of that just to die post escape. She did escape. And I think in the moment of adrenaline crash allowed her body to give up and she died once she knew she was free. Tragic but beautiful.
I think that the good ending is likely for the reason that the even bigger reveal than Mr. Reed not believing in religion is that Paxton isn't a literalist. Her explanation of the prayer experiment aligns with the theme of absolute certainty in either direction being absurd, and that she is making the conscious choice to believe. The butterfly appears and disappears to show that she is aware it isn't there, but chooses to see it anyway as a representative of Barnes.
I thought Paxton was great. When I was a teenager I went to youth groups and there was always a couple of girls with that vibe; extremely meek, smiley, and generous and VERY smart. People mistake kindness for weakness and I love that they played that up in this. Chloe East was so believable.
Two women locked in a building with a Reddit atheist is truly a terrifying concept.
My take on the ending is similar to the film makers take. We choose what we believe and that makes it our reality. That's why paxton brings up the prayer experiment. It doesnt matter that "it doesnt work" what matters is how it makes you feel and that colors your view of the world. Notice how mr. Reed was very knowledgeable but he wasnt very happy/satisfied. Paxton looked like she found peace. We choose what we see at the end
When Sister Barnes talked about her history with Taco Bell, she said, "When I was dead, I saw exactly what your prophet described. A blinding white light, clouds, but not Heaven, a sense of wanting to return, a feeling that my state of reality wasn't real.", which exactly describes the ending scene with Sister Paxton; A blinding white light in the background, a cloud of snow on the ground, her sense of wanting to go back home(escaping the house), and her feeling that her state of reality wasn't real(disappearance of butterfly). So, I believe the true ending was truly what happened. But, I do love how we all have our own interpretation on the same matter.
They all died, her leaving the house was her soul being free from her body. Endings are more beautiful than beginnings because everything gets slowly revealed to you, all your suffering and worry are vanquished and there is nothing but peace. What your meant to do on earth is your business but when it’s your time to go whether your ready or not embrace it.
Imagine the Horror of haveing not 1, not 2, but 4 versions of monopoly in your house. Pure terror, great writing.