Heretic Movie Ending Explained: Every Question Answered Skymovie

Heretic is a 2024 psychological film written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. It stars Hugh Grant in an incredibly menacing role, something you’ve not seen before. The movie has a great theme and leaves a bunch of questions unanswered, which we’ll discuss in this article. Here’s the plot and ending of Heretic explained; spoilers ahead.

Heretic Plot Explained

Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes work at the church and answer a call from a man named Mr Reed, who wants to join the church. Before they know it, the two get trapped in Reed’s house, where he explains how all religions are merely iterations of the same story told over centuries.

Reed stages a miracle of a woman dying and coming to life, but in reality, he’s been kidnapping women and keeping them caged over time because he can. We can easily presume that these women were once girls who approached Reeds, and he kidnapped them. They’ve barely eaten, are kept in the cold, and have mostly lost their mind.

Heretic: Why is Mr Reeds doing this?

Mr Reed claims he does this because all the women allow him to. They allow him to sell his fake stories to them and eventually trap them. His grand statement is that all religion is merely a form of control and nothing more. With a bit of misdirection, people will believe just about anything.

Reed has been enquiring at churches that send young women of faith to his residence, whom he traps. He then eventually stages a Miracle which goes as follows:

• He gets one of his victims to show up with a poisoned pie and eat it. The victim eats it willingly as it’s their one final act of free will – to die.
• When the girls are distracted, another victim shows up and, removes the dead body and takes its place. The victim does this presumably because Mr Reed may have promised her freedom.
• The second victim stops acting dead and gets up to state that the world they are in is not real and is only a simulation.
• The women of faith who witness this either believe this elaborate hoax and kill themselves or see through it and become Reed’s captive for life.
• The cycle continues.

An important aspect to note is that the house is actually a labyrinth of sorts. It is confusing, and anyone trying to escape will end up getting confused. We see this happening to Sister Paxton as she goes in from one passage, tries to retrace her steps, and gets out through a different door. This enables Reed to get ahead of her and stab her.

 

What is the significance of the butterfly at the end of Heretic?

The butterfly represents Sister Paxton’s earlier wish to be reincarnated as one in order to visit her loved ones after death. She mentions she would sit specifically on a person’s finger to let them know it’s her. The butterfly’s appearance and subsequent disappearance remain deliberately ambiguous, leaving its meaning open to personal interpretation. I believe there was no butterfly; it was just Paxton imagining it as she was dying, and it was her final dying wish.

The alternate theory is that Paxton made it out alive against all odds. So this in technically another life gifted to her by Barnes. So her seeing the disappearing butterfly is indicative of a sense of being reborn, being given a second chance, and a thank you to Sister Barnes.

Heretic: Does Sister Barnes come back to life in the film?

Sister Barnes initially appears to be dead, but she later seems to come back to life to help Sister Paxton. While it can be seen as a miracle where Barnes comes back to life only to save Paxton and then die again, I believe Barnes wasn’t dead. She was bleeding to death and used her last breath to save Paxton before dying. That said, for Paxton this event would continue to remain a miracle because she never saw it coming. A miracle is a relative thing, not absolute.

Heretic: What was in Sister Barnes’ hand?

The metal object extracted from Sister Barnes’s arm is a contraceptive implant. When Mr. Reed removes it, he claims that it proves Sister Barnes is artificial and their world is a simulation. Reed tries to trick Paxton into believing that Barnes is not a real person, which is why she cannot resurrect. However, Sister Paxton identifies the metal as a standard birth control device, countering Reed’s claim.

In case you’re wondering, a contraceptive implant is a small, flexible rod, roughly the size of a matchstick, that is inserted under the skin of the upper arm. It releases hormones, typically progestin, which help to prevent pregnancy by thickening cervical mucus to block sperm and stopping ovulation—the release of eggs from the ovaries.

Heretic: Ending Explained

The ending of Heretic makes it clear that Sister Paxton will never be the same. Her belief system has been questioned significantly; she’s stabbed and bleeding. She’s either going to die or is going to survive a near-death experience. The movie makes one very pressing point about control. Like the Merovingian from The Matrix Reloaded says, “choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without”. And in this case, Mr Reed has been driving the narrative, and all his victims feel they don’t have a choice to do anything about their condition. In real life, we let companies, corporations and world leaders do this to us on a daily basis.

Sister Barnes is the experienced of the two, and she mentally challenges Mr Reed. But more importantly Barnes also tries to take control of the situation physically. She knows Reed is keeping a close eye on her and will preempt any physical attack from her. This is why Barnes gives Paxton the weapon and asks her to attack when the moment is right. This does not mean Paxton is not intellectual. In fact, Paxton is the one who’s been very observant and quickly sees through the hoax Reed presents in the form of a miracle. She’s coy, not stupid. However, I suspect had she come alone to Reed’s house, she might have found herself in a cage as well, and she, on her own, may not have stabbed Reed.

This leads me to my broader perspective on the film, which is more substantial than the ending. The women’s resistance undermines Mr. Reed’s assertion of a genuine religion or cult. For a leader to have followers with sincere faith, those followers must be willing participants rather than individuals seeking to escape. This distinction indicates that he hasn’t formed an authentic religion; instead, it highlights humans’ manipulation of faith. He has a cage full of women who seemingly follow his instructions, but when one of them gets the chance, they disobey instructions and tell Paxton and Barnes that the miracle is not real.

Despite being trapped, Paxton still embodies kindness and hope, as shown when she relinquishes her coat and prays for herself and Barnes, upholding core values that Reed could not strip away from her. He deemed them heretics due to his inability to dominate them. And that is why Reed crawls up to her to slit her throat but is ultimately stopped by Barnes.

Heretic Movie: Plot Holes Explained

While the movie’s first half is excellent, the second half is less convincing. For instance, if Reed’s ultimate plan is to stage the death and resurrection of a woman, then what would have happened if the Elder hadn’t come knocking on his door that day? Or had come by too soon? It’s very convenient that the Elder’s timing matched the switching of the ladies perfectly.

The acoustics of that basement is one of silence. So, any movement of a table or opening of a trapdoor would be loud and clear. Both Sister Paxton and Barnes somehow never heard any noise when the dead body below was being swapped out. Even the basement door is magically covered back with enough grime to hide it perfectly just after it was used.

With ladies going missing from various churches over time, wouldn’t there eventually be suspicion on Reed, a loner constantly interested in joining churches but never does?

What is the meaning behind the title “Heretic”?

The title “Heretic” could mean two things. The movie is called that to make the audience wonder if the missionaries are heretics because Reed proves them wrong or whether Reed, as the non-believer predator, is the heretic. Which one do you think it is?

What did you think about the plot and ending of Heretic? Leave your comments below.