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POST-MORMON STORIES
A Former Mormon Missionary Watches “Heretic”
The new horror thriller offers a heady clash between opposing ideas about faith and belief. But how realistic is its depiction of LDS doctrine and culture?
It’s a buddy pairing we’ve seen in a thousand movies. The wide-eyed, chatty newb harboring idealistic and nervous visions of the work ahead. The cynical, taciturn veteran who’s seen too much and may be losing faith in their job. These roles are established quickly — after a darkly hilarious “porno-ographical” conversation — through a familiar shorthand that lets us see the two distinct individuals who make up this otherwise all-too-easily stereotyped partnership.
With that, the cerebral new horror thriller Heretic puts us firmly on the side of two characters of a type more commonly deployed as punchlines (when deployed in popular culture at all) — young LDS missionaries. I’ve written before about how rare it is to see Mormon characters on screen, let alone depicted with any depth or nuance. Squeaky-clean kids on bikes knocking on doors and handing out religious tracts are ripe for caricature, and it is to this movie’s credit that the script and portrayals rarely stray that way.
