The following contains spoilers for HereticHeretic‘s ending is a dark but rewarding finale connected to the film’s exploration of faith. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ new horror film is a cerebral story that focuses on two Mormon missionaries who find themselves trapped in the home of a seemingly kind (but secretly horrifying) Mr. Reed. The focus of the film remains on Heretic‘s main three characters, rarely leaving the building once Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton are unwittingly lured into Mr. Reed’s trap.

It’s a dark movie that balances its heavy themes and grim turns with some moments of unexpected humor and charm, largely benefiting from one of Hugh Grant’s most memorable performances. This leads to a powerful ending that underscores the central debate at the heart of the narrative, all while leaving enough ambiguity that the movie’s treatise on faith extends to the audience’s beliefs in the exact circumstances of the plot.

Mr. Reed’s Plan In Heretic: Resurrection Tricks, His True Religion & More Explained

Mr. Reed Is Quietly A Great Horror Villain

Mr. Reed’s mysterious actions and plans in Heretic serve as the film’s real tension, especially as he is revealed to be far more brutal than he initially appeared. In the first act of Heretic, Mr. Reed is portrayed with a sweet but curious side, quick to apologize for unintended offense but dedicated to conversation. As his talk with Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton grows more personal and judgmental, he becomes increasingly creepy. As the two missionaries (and the audience) eventually discover, Reed has spent decades researching religion in search of a true faith to follow.

Ultimately, Reed’s true “religion” is the idea of control. He attempts to convince the young women through his words, and when that attempt to control them fails, he shifts to a more theatrical “resurrection” of one of the other women he’s captured. Killing her and replacing her with another woman, Reed attempts to spiritually break both young women by having her reveal there is only darkness after death. Mr. Reed’s plan seems to be to crack Paxton and Barnes mentally, adding them to his captured collection of disciples or attempting to kill them if that fails.

What The ʙuттerfly Landing On Paxton Means In Heretic’s Ending

A Tease From The Film’s Opening Act Pays Off In Heretic‘s Final Moments

The idea of ʙuттerflies in Heretic representing rebirth and freedom is established early on between Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton. Paxton explains to her friend that she hopes when she dies, she can return to Earth at least briefly in the form of a ʙuттerfly. That way, she could visit her loved ones and let them know, on some level, that she is okay and at peace. This sets up the idea that Paxton could die in the film, but she is actually the only main character to survive the film.

After Barnes and Reed both die, a wounded Paxton is able to escape the house, where a ʙuттerfly lands on her hand. It is one of the many ambiguous moments in the movie’s final act that is left up to the audience to interpret themselves. Some might believe that the implication behind this moment is that the ʙuттerfly is a representation of Barnes. Despite having been seemingly murdered by Mr. Reed earlier in the film, Barnes’ return gave her a chance to save her friend. The ʙuттerfly implies to Paxton (and the audience) that the afterlife exists, justifying their faith.

However, other interpretations suggest that the ʙuттerfly is not real and that Paxton was indeed killed by Reed in the cellar of the house. The ʙuттerfly is a hallucination she is experiencing as she dies, which could also be a sign to her that the afterlife is real and she has reached it. While the movie is clearly willing to allow the audience to determine the ending for themselves, the final image does give Paxton a bit of peace and solace in the end while rewarding her faith.

Did Barnes Come Back To Life In Heretic’s Ending?

Barnes’ Final Actions Are Purposefully Ambiguous

One of the harshest plot twists in Heretic comes when Mr. Reed confronts Barnes and Paxton after his attempt to trick them with a resurrection. Barnes loudly calls him out and accuses the entire thing of being a poorly constructed trick that she can see right through. Before she can get close enough to attack him, Reed slashes her throat with a box-cutter, seemingly killing her almost immediately. Barnes remains removed from the rest of Heretic‘s climax until the final moments, when she suddenly pops back up and kills Reed to save Paxton.

An interesting ambiguity is at play in this scene, as it’s unclear what the exact nature of this moment is. It’s possible that Barnes was faking her death, waiting until she could use the last of her strength at a crucial moment. This would be a clever reversal of Reed using his captured women to mislead them about a miracle by faking a resurrection. However, it’s also possible that Barnes was indeed resurrected, at least long enough to stop Reed. The spiritual qualities of Heretic and the self-awareness of doubt and possibility make both options thematically compelling directions.

Of course, there is a darker possibility that is similar to certain interpretations of the ʙuттerfly. The moment of Barnes killing Reed and saving Paxton could all have been part of the dying hallucination Paxton experiences after Reed makes good on his threats. It would be another instance of her imagining her faith being rewarded even with a seemingly impossible occurrence.

Why Mr. Reed Has So Many Women Caged In His Basement & Where They Came From

Mr. Reed’s “Apostles” Are His Prisoners

One of the darkest reveals of Heretic is the discovery of all the women Mr. Reed has captured over the years. While trying to find an escape after the apparent death of Sister Barnes, Sister Paxton comes across a number of women kept in cages. Reed explains that they were also captured by him, and they seemingly weren’t able to escape his mind games and manipulations. This has left them starving and conditioned to follow his commands, with Reed clearly meeting any insubordination with extreme measures.

Mr. Reed’s captured women play into his beliefs about the power and importance of control. In his worldview, control is the only true religion in the world of Heretic. It allows for people to dominate others and change the world around them. In this sense, Mr. Reed’s treatment of “apostles” as slaves to his cause is reinforced by him controlling them in every conceivable way. It’s a very dark mindset, and one that Mr. Reed carries out to a horrifying degree.

Does Mr. Reed Have A Wife In Heretic?

The First Big Plot Twist In Heretic Has An Even Darker Secondary Meaning

One of the first big plot twists in Heretic is also the initial clue that alerts Sister Barnes to the danger the two young women are in. Mr. Reed brushes off Barnes and Paxton’s concerns about being alone with him by claiming that his wife is shy and busy making a pie in the other room. This is initially justified by the smell of blueberry pie filling the house. However, the scent is actually coming from a nearby candle. Mr. Reed doesn’t seem to have a wife in the regular understanding of the word.

However, his “disciples” are implied to effectively be his “wives,” dutifully following the commands of the head of their household. This kind of beat is foreshadowed early in the film, when Reed insults the Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith by referencing theories that his initial claims of divine inspiration were partly to cover up his affairs and justify his belief in polygamy. In a sense, Mr. Reed has similar inclinations to control multiple women, albeit in a far more oppressive and grim way.

The Real Meaning Of Heretic

Heretic‘s Ending Is About The Dark Potential And Defiant Strength Of Faith

Heretic is largely about faith. At the core of the narrative is an extended analysis of belief as a tool, either for the powerful to dominate others with or for the downtrodden to believe in. Reed’s path towards discovering a true faith led him to his current state, while Sister Reed and Sister Barnes hold on to their own faiths. Ultimately, Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes remain steadfast in their beliefs instead of giving in to Reed, sparing them the fate of Reed’s other victims.

Regardless of how you interpret the final scene and what you might think of Paxton’s fate, the idea remains the same in both instances – she maintained her faith and was rewarded. If Barnes truly did save her, Paxton could see it as the work of God and the ʙuттerfly as a sign of Paxton in the afterlife. If Paxton was killed in the end, then her hallucination allows her to escape from the dark reality in which she finds herself, embracing her faith in those final moments.

How The Heretic Ending Was Received

Critics Felt The Movie Survived A Complicated Conclusion

Heretic earned strong reviews from critics when it was released, but the ending was one key element that came up in a lot of reviews. Many critics highlighted how the movie changes a lot with its third-act reveal, and the effectiveness of this switch was debated by many critics. In Screen Rant’s own review of the movie, Heretic‘s twists were praised for building gradually so that the storytelling can pull them off without feeling too jarring:

The twists that come later are well-placed and the writing-directing duo knows when to move on from each story point, tying everything together in the end so cohesively.

Meanwhile, The AV Club’s ᴀssessment of the movie also discussed the film’s ending and how the storytelling ultimately led to those final moments. They point out that it is not a flawless execution and that the movie does stumble along the way, but it is able to deliver a smart conclusion that brings together its big ideas.

Heretic‘s conclusions are there from the very beginning, not predictable or boring, but careful and elegant. It’s the smartest script Beck and Woods have generated yet, regardless of how the third act may initially land. Divisiveness aside, and despite a few stumbles in pacing as it pivots from cool premise to interesting conclusion, Heretic is a wonderfully effective, chilling thriller from two of the best genre storytellers currently in the game.

Likewise, the review at RogerEbert.com points out that the movie switching from its dialogue-heavy and compelling initial setup becomes much less compelling when the action inevitably has to kick in with the final act. However, while they highlight it as a weak point in the movie, they also acknowledge that many similar films ultimately fail with this late switch while Heretic remains a satisfying experience.

As one would imagine in a film that’s so dialogue-heavy for the first third, there comes a turning point in “Heretic” when Mr. Reed’s plans have to turn into action, and the film loses some of its inherent power when a movie about the unknown is forced to show some known. That said, there are versions of this film that fall apart completely, and “Heretic” never does that. Thinking about some of the actual narrative choices of the final act in retrospect makes some of them feel silly, but that’s not the case in the moment when we feel as trapped and helpless as Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes.