HERETIC (A24 – Nov. 15): A nifty piece of philosophical horror from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the writers of the original A Quiet Place. The set-up is almost fairy tale in its simplicity. A pair of young women who are Mormon missionaries, Sisters Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Baxter (Chloe East), are at the end of their long day fruitlessly trying to recruit converts in a small town. Their final stop is the picturesque house of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), who surprises them with how courteous and welcoming he is. There are rules against being alone with a man, but he assures them that his wife is inside, baking that blueberry pie they smell. By the time they realize that the aroma is actually from a pie-scented candle, the doors have locked behind them, and they realize that the house is a deadly maze. Reed isn’t the typical run of serial killer. He’s after a serious theological debate, and he counts on the women’s lives being at stake to sharpen their wits. This time, he’s underestimated his victims, who are smarter and more resourceful than he expected. As many will note, Heretic is as verbose as A Quiet Place was silent, and Grant has a ball goodhumoredly ramping up the menace even as he’s arguing for his own twisted idea of faith. As his adversaries, Thatcher and East rise to the challenge of holding their own with Grant even as their characters do with his. The filmmakers provide a constant stream of witty dialogue and clever twists, and even pull off an ending combining genre jolts with a closing statement that satisfyingly finishes the theological debate. Heretic is a highly enjoyable little thriller.
EMILIA PEREZ (Netflix: Nov. 13): Jacques Audiard’s film (based on a novel by Boris Razon, with Thomas Bidegain, Nicolas Livecchi, and Lea Mysius credited for their writing “collaboration”) is a genuinely one of a kind melange of genres. We enter its world of Mexico City through defense attorney Rita (Zoe Saldana), who’s successful but frustrated at her inability to rise to the top at her firm. She’s ripe for an offer, even if it comes from cartel kingpin Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofia Gascon). As it turns out, Manitas doesn’t want Rita for her courtroom skills. Rather, he needs someone to help him with his deepest secret: he’s trans, and he wants to have gender affirmation surgery and vanish from his previous life, which includes a seemingly happy marriage with Jessi (Selina Gomez) and their sons. Rita makes all the deeply confidential arrangements, and Manitas is “killed,” emerging as Emilia Perez. In her new persona, she tries to live a better, more charitable existence, with Rita as her professional partner and increasingly her closest friend. The problem is that Emilia can’t resist the pull of her past life, and she insinuates her way back into crime and her family (as Manitas’s “cousin”). It’s asking for disaster, and in the end things literally blow up. And all of this… is a musical. Not a chamber musical where the characters sing their inner monologues to express their emotions, but a full-blown spectacle complete with production numbers. (The songs are by Camille and Clement Ducol, with choreography by Damiel Jalet.) It would be going too far to say that all of Emilia Perez works. This is a film of transitions, both for the characters and for Audiard, and some of these are handled more smoothly than others. However, the sheer imagination and commitment of the enterprise goes a long way. And the trio of actresses (who shared the acting prize at Cannes) are sensational, running Audiard’s gamut from melodrama to thriller, from torch songs to rap. In a Hollywood era where it feels like everything is some form of IP, reconstituted products that only seek to imitate past successes, the unalloyed uniqueness of Emilia Perez is thrilling.
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