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Review in Brief: Heretic (2024)
What a tense, twisted treat HERETIC is. Mormon missionaries Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Paxton (Chloe East) are invited into the home of the affable Mr Reed (Hugh Grant) for a friendly theological discussion and get much more than they bargained for. Heretic certainly keeps you guessing, and only really wobbles in its very final stretch, which is still fun just increasingly credulity-pushing. Hugh Grant really is going through a renaissance since he aged out of his endearingly awkward romantic leads; every role he now takes on placing him further outside his comfort zone with wonderful, often chilling results. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East give as good as they get as well, the power balance between Reed and the missionaries fascinatingly shifting in the film’s second half. Heretic will have you on the edge of your seat, it’ll illicit uncomfortable laughter and it may well make you think about interrogating your own faith as well. SSP
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Review in Brief: Wicked (2024)
Did the long-awaited big screen version of the iconic musical WICKED need to be a two-part epic? Possibly not, but this first part does make you intrigued about how everything will be wrapped up at the end of 2025. Years before Dorothy lands in Oz, witches-to-be the green-skinned Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and the vain Galinda (Ariana Grande) meet at Shiz University and get swept up in a mystery leading back to the Emerald City’s Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). John M Chu is surely now your go-to old-fashioned Hollywood musical director, someone who’s not afraid to completely go for it with elaborate choreography, showmanship and scale. Erivo is a magnetic star and Grande proves unexpectedly well-suited to broad comedy, the pair’s frenemy chemistry being the main reason to see this. This has several in-built audiences and fan bases so it’s no wonder that it has done well, though it’s unlikely to convert anyone who isn’t already a fan of the musical or Oz in general. SSP
SSP Thinks Film 