I was mightily unhappy, almost physically ill in fact, when I first came across this story:
- “Heretic: Check out the scary new trailer, plot, cast, creative team and release date of Hugh Grant starrer movie”
- “Heretic Trailer Previews A24 Horror Movie About Mormon Missionaries Starring Hugh Grant”
- “Hugh Grant Plays a Disturbed Trickster Who Holds Mormons Captive in Heretic Trailer (Video)”
- “Hugh Grant Torments Mormons in First Trailer for Heretic“
- “Hugh Grant Gets Creepy and Traps Two Young Mormon Missionaries in A24’s ‘Heretic’ Trailer”
- “Heretic Official TRAILER: Hugh Grant Entraps Two Young Mormon Guests In A24’s Upcoming Horror Thriller”
- “Trailer For Hugh Grant’s Horror Film HERETIC About Two Mormon Missionaries Who Knock on the Wrong Door”
- “Watch Hugh Grant terrorize LDS missionaries in trailer for new horror movie: “Heretic” is scheduled to be released nationwide Nov. 15.”
- “‘Heretic’ Trailer: Hugh Grant Lures Pair Of Missionaries Into Cat-And-Mouse Game In A24 Horror Film From ‘A Quiet Place’ Duo”
- “Heretic | Official Trailer HD | A24”
I have always deeply disliked Hugh Grant as an actor. Even when I’ve liked a movie in which he starred, I’ve had to like it in spite of his being in it. And, based purely on one old news story involving him, I don’t especially admire him as a person. I doubt that Heretic is going to cause me like him more.
I find the very idea of Heretic viscerally upsetting. But will the film give deranged people deranged ideas? Will it make missionary service, especially for sister missionaries, more dangerous? I don’t know. I hope not, but I suppose that’s a possibility. It’s certainly imaginable.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is sometimes accused of keeping its members in an isolated protective bubble. Sending young men and women out into strange (and often foreign) places to encounter whatever they’ll encounter seems a rather odd way to do that.
Today, I read through Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s remarks at the most recent general conference of the Church, back in April 2024. (See “Motions of a Hidden Fire.”) This passage once again struck me with great power:
Another experience began 48 hours after my wife’s burial. At that time, I was rushed to the hospital in an acute medical crisis. I then spent the first four weeks of a six-week stay in and out of intensive care and in and out of consciousness.
Virtually all my experience in the hospital during that first period is lost to my memory. What is not lost is my memory of a journey outside the hospital, out to what seemed the edge of eternity. I cannot speak fully of that experience here, but I can say that part of what I received was an admonition to return to my ministry with more urgency, more consecration, more focus on the Savior, more faith in His word.
I couldn’t help but feel I was receiving my own personal version of a revelation given to the Twelve nearly 200 years ago:
“Thou shalt bear record of my name … [and] send forth my word unto the ends of the earth. …
“… Morning by morning; and day after day let thy warning voice go forth; and when the night cometh let not the inhabitants of the earth slumber, because of thy speech. …
“Arise[,] … take up your cross, [and] follow me.”
My beloved sisters and brothers, since that experience, I have tried to take up my cross more earnestly, with more resolve to find where I can raise an apostolic voice of both warmth and warning in the morning, during the day, and into the night.
That is a remarkable account. It reminds me of an earlier testimony from the late Elder David B. Haight (1906-2004), also a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I cite here only the introduction to the story, which is well worth reading in its entirety:
The evening of my health crisis, I knew something very serious had happened to me. Events happened so swiftly—the pain striking with such intensity, my dear Ruby phoning the doctor and our family, and I on my knees leaning over the bathtub for support and some comfort and hoped relief from the pain. I was pleading to my Heavenly Father to spare my life a while longer to give me a little more time to do His work, if it was His will.
While still praying, I began to lose consciousness. The siren of the paramedic truck was the last that I remembered before unconsciousness overtook me, which would last for the next several days.
The terrible pain and commotion of people ceased. I was now in a calm, peaceful setting; all was serene and quiet. I was conscious of two persons in the distance on a hillside, one standing on a higher level than the other. Detailed features were not discernible. The person on the higher level was pointing to something I could not see.
I heard no voices but was conscious of being in a holy presence and atmosphere. During the hours and days that followed, there was impressed again and again upon my mind the eternal mission and exalted position of the Son of Man. I witness to you that He is Jesus the Christ; the Son of God; Savior to all; Redeemer of all mankind; Bestower of infinite love, mercy, and forgiveness; the Light and Life of the World. I knew this truth before—I had never doubted nor wondered. But now I knew, because of the impressions of the Spirit upon my heart and soul, these divine truths in a most unusual way.
I was shown a panoramic view of His earthly ministry . . .
(LDS Media Library)
Finally, I close with a few chilling specimens that I’ve extracted from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™. Read them at your own risk:
“Church of Jesus Christ Extends Aid and Shelter to Volcano Evacuees”
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