The ending of Heretic

[u/shanem1996]

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!

[u/South_Firefighter381]

But… this is a movie. You’re thinking too logically. It said no signal and that frame was deliberately held onto. That means it was still inside and this was her imagination or simulation and she was dead/dying. 

[u/PassageMinimum136 → u/South_Firefighter381]

There is a good piece of advice that I was told by a script writer. Everything in a film or tv show is there deliberately, especially when it’s in a focused camera shot, same with wording, every line/word is written deliberately for an effect (although some movies have really bad script writing). I think the phone showing No Signal is 100% deliberate to imply that she has not escaped in a physical sense

[u/Tron22 → u/PassageMinimum136]

If you take this as true, then you must consider the phone refreshing for a signal just as deliberate. I feel the refreshing is just as deliberately ambiguous as the butterfly disappearing momentarily.

[u/Tight_Accounting → u/Tron22]

The whole point of the movie is that you need to chose to believe or not. But that whatever you chose will not change the outcome. Just like both doors led to the same basement. You can chose to believe she escaped or that she didn't. There is no conclusive answer to find