Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Heretic (2024)
While HereticTaco Bell’s opening line may seem like a throwaway joke, but it’s surprisingly pivotal to the film’s plot. A24 Horror Movie Heretic It’s impressively unpredictable. For the first half of its running time, the psychological thriller plays like a deftly written two-hander in which Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton, two Mormon missionaries played by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East, attempt to convert the affable and cynical Mr. However, things take a dark turn when the women attempt to leave Reed’s labyrinthine home and soon discover that he has a dark plan for them.
In a short time, HereticThe small cast of characters went from discussing theoretical theology to using extreme measures to test their faith. Reed traps the women in a dank basement and forces them to watch as a “Prophet”eats a poisoned pie, dies and apparently comes back to life. When Sister Barnes tries to unmask this, Reed responds by suddenly slitting her throat and focusing his attention on the surviving Sister Paxton. As bizarre as it may seem, the Barnes sister’s ability to reveal Reed’s secret plan stems from a throwaway joke about fast food chains early in the film.
Heretic’s Barnes Sister Was Diagnosed Clinically Dead at Taco Bell as a Child
Severe food poisoning earned Sister Barnes the nickname “Taco Hell”
Near the beginning of HereticReed asks the two missionaries to rank the fast food places in order of preference. He’s trying to defend religious denominations, but when they start, the pair lose a famous network. Reed asks”What about Taco Bell?“and the sisters Barnes and Paxton cut simultaneously with a flat”We don’t talk about Taco Bell.” It’s a fun comedic beat, but one that has a poignant payoff later on. At the end, Barnes reveals he suffered a near-death experience at Taco Bell as a child and was declared clinically dead.
Sophie Thatcher’s heretical heroine tells Reed that her prophet only suffered a near-death experience, noting the similarity between her claims and Barnes’ childhood trauma.
Obviously, Barnes was revived soon after, but this anecdote explains how she knows what a near-death experience feels like and feels like. This, in turn, allows her to seemingly unmask the bizarre “Prophet“experiment, in which he made the captive elderly woman eat a poisoned pie, die, and then apparently come back to life. Sophie Thatcher Heretic the heroine tells Reed that her prophet only suffered a near-death experience, noting the similarity between her statements and Barnes’ own childhood trauma. However, she is not entirely right in this statement, although she is close.
Sister Barnes’ near-death experience gave a clue about Mr.
Heretic’s Heroine Accuses Hugh Grant’s Villain of Causing a Near-Death Experience
In reality, Reed actually killed one of his captive cult members and replaced her with another in the experiment. As such, it is just a strange coincidence that the prophet’s written description of the afterlife was so similar to Barnes’ near-death experience. That being said, Barnes’ call allows Paxton to later discover the truthas it forces the more naive of the two missionaries to think critically about Reed’s plan. Eventually, Paxton realizes that Reed swapped one prisoner for another, planned his supposed resurrection, and killed Barnes because she came too close to discovering the truth.
Barnes may not be sure about the details, but she got close enough for Reed to improvise, killing her and claiming she was a simulation.
Thus, Barnes’ experience at Taco Bell, which earned him the childhood nickname “Taco Hell,” provided the pair with the ammunition they needed to debunk Reed’s claims of a supposed miracle. Barnes may not be sure about the details, but she got close enough for Reed to improvise, killing her and claiming she was a simulation. At this stage, Paxton was starting to understand her game and it wasn’t long before she tricked him and stabbed him in the neck. This, along with Sister Barnes’ return from the dead to finish off Reed, facilitated his escape.
Sister Barnes’ Taco Bell Story Sets the End of the Heretic
Sister Barnes returns to save Sister Paxton
Even though Barnes apparently died from having her throat slit minutes earlier, Sophie Thatcher’s character revives herself long enough to kill Reed. This twist was already hinted at in his story about temporary death as a child, foreshadowing his eventual second return from seemingly certain death. To further underline this comparison, Barnes only revives when Paxton loses hope of escaping the basement after a stab wound and begins to pray. As Reed tries to reach her and try to slit her throat, Paxton hopes for a last-second miracle.
She and Barnes apparently receive this miracle when Barnes is temporarily revived and Paxton manages to escape as a result. HereticThe ending of Taco Bell proves that Barnes’ childhood incident with Taco Bell may be a mere coincidence, but it may also be part of a larger plan in which she was always predestined to play a role. with the two missionaries defending organized religion, while Reed presents the case against the institution as HereticThe twisting, unpredictable mystery of Olympique gradually reveals itself.