WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Heretic.
The notable Monopoly monologue in the A24 psychological horror thriller Heretic offers the best piece of subtle commentary in the film’s overarching message. The film has opened to strong reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 90% and an audience score of 76%.
The film, directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, stars Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed, an odd yet intelligent man who entraps two religious women, Sisters Barnes and Paxton, in a game of deep theological contemplation. The film is a cat-and-mouse game of decisions and outcomes in the name of an apparently absent God.
The Monopoly monologue is one of the most compelling and strongest conceptual examples of Mr. Reed’s religious ideology in the entire film. Like a demented sort of professor, Mr. Reed brings out various versions of the Monopoly board game to make a point about how, although they appear to be different, they are fundamentally the same. He makes the argument that the major religions of the world can also be interpreted in this way through this example, likening the original Monopoly game to Judaism and later versions to Christianity and Islam.
Mr. Reed’s central point in his Monologue is that all religions, regardless of how they are represented and even marketed in a capitalistic sense, are merely just masks for systems of control. He argues that there is no true difference between them, as they are all sourced by the same purpose of control.
The Monopoly monologue arrives at a great time in the film, when the confusion and tension about Mr. Reed’s deception of the two Sisters is at an all-time high. Mr. Reed’s Monopoly analogy is that it’s all about controlling others, taking other ideologies and concepts, and ultimately warping them to suit his wants, just like the “inventor” of Monopoly takes the idea of the landlord game and sells it as his own.
Heretic is currently available to rent or purchase through digital platforms, with a production budget of $10 million and a domestic total of $44.5 million. The film is likely to be released on HBO/MAX at some point in the future based on their exclusive deal with A24.