Unsettling, unexpected and very, very talky, the latest horror flick from edgy, arty studio A24 is a deranged chamber piece.
Basically an extended theological conversation taking place within the confines of one small home, the film is grounded in its three central performances, with star Hugh Grant’s gleefully terrifying turn matched by strong work from newcomers Chloe East (The Fabelmans) and Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets).
Sister Paxton (East) and Sister Barnes (Thatcher) are two young women doing mission work for the Church of the Latter-day Saints somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Sister Paxton is an earnest, eager true believer, distressed by the excesses of secular culture, especially “that South Park musical.” Sister Barnes, as signalled by her opinion that some of the musical’s numbers are actually kind of funny — and also by her red, bee-stung, French New Wave lips — might harbour some secret conflicts.
The pair knocks on the door of Mr. Reed …