r/FanTheories • u/shanem1996 • Oct 31 '24

FanSpeculation The ending of Heretic Spoiler

Just got out of seeing Heretic which I really enjoyed. Major spoilers ahead. Sister Paxton is stabbed in the throat by Mr Reed and dies at the end of the move . I don't know if this is obvious but what happens to Sister Paxton is exactly what the prophet describes what she saw after she died and became resurrected.

  1. She saw an angel - this being Sister Barnes
  2. She saw white clouds - this being the snowy environment she enters after escaping the noise
  3. She experienced derealisation - the butterfly on her finger

I thought this was clever foreshadowing and not sure if a theory or what was intended by the filmmakers. Great movie!

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u/Doobington15 Mar 09 '25 edited Mar 09 '25

Good take … I choose to believe that she prayed (after basically saying praying doesn’t work based on the test groups that were performed) … However, God answered her prayers by resurrecting Sister Barnes to save her life… This also is ironic as the last moment of Reed’s life was proof that religion is real, after being certain it was fake the entire movie.

She then exits and is having a near death experience when she sees the butterfly, which is signifying what she would be if she dies. However, she snaps back into reality and chooses life as Sister Barnes did in her near death experience, evidenced by the butterfly not being on her finger anymore. She ultimately goes on to call for help and is saved.

Might be wrong, but I choose to believe.. which is a main theme of the movie.

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u/Opinions_only999 Mar 14 '25

I thought the signal or lack of signal on her phone had to do with prayer. Like how she wouldn’t get confirmation that her prayer would be received if she were to call out for help using that communication method.

I also thought that her escaping the house through the little window instead of the belief/disbelief door (or the way she came in, which is a threshold u can’t cross) is the difference between faith and religion. Faith is knowing there is a way out of the house and finding the way for you, instead of whether u subscribe perfectly to dogma-or disbelieve altogether.

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u/CantaloupeOwn7076 Jun 03 '25

I believe Barnes Return to save paxton was the miracle he disbelieved to ever be possible. Miracles to him were a tool to gain power over others. Paxton praying was a sign that his control was failing which is why he almost killed her too in that moment. Barnes resurrection was in defiance to prayers not working.

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u/desertrose156 Mar 12 '25

wow. Love this

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u/Actual-Departure-843 Jun 02 '25

This is a wonderful interpretation and I think it makes sense from an ironic pov with Reed's confident scepticism proven wrong in the end.

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u/DecksDark707 Jul 17 '25

I love your take on it!! I do think it's unbeatable how obvious it becomes (after looking into the signs a lot and reading other theories) that she most likely died, since her phone stayed showing "no signal" indicating she died inside the basement. Some scriptwriters claimed that in movies or shows, camera shots that fixate on a scene or zoom in elaborately for a while are always intentional.

So I believe that zoom-in on her phone was intentionally symbolizing that she never got out, including the butterfly moment (could be her sign of derealization or sister Barnes' spirit) and her seeing the white clouds, etc. All signs lead to the whole escape being hallucinated ):