Freeze Frame: “Heretic” (R), “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (PG), “Absolution” (R), “Small Things Like These” (PG-13)

Hugh Grant goes against type and scores as a psycho philosopher in the slow burn horror entry “Heretic.” Grant lures a pair of Mormon missionaries into an elaborate trap in his home as he endeavors to get them to renounce their faith…or face dire consequences. Whether it’s an anti-religious commentary or defense of faith is in the eye of the beholder, but “Heretic” is a sly and creepy thriller just the same.

Dallas Jenkins, director and producer of the phenomenally popular series “The Chosen,” has adapted the classic children’s novel “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” into a feature film. Judy Greer and Pete Holmes star in the story of how a family of delinquents disrupts and ultimately transforms a small town’s holiday ritual. While the story is padded to reach feature film length, it’s a sweet and agreeable movie that should have a wide family appeal.

Liam Neeson is back with yet another of his late career crime dramas, where he’s once again channeling the spirit of the late Charles Bronson. In “Absolution,” he plays an aging Boston mob enforcer who tries to reconnect with his daughter while battling dementia caused by repeated head trauma. “Absolution” is the three d’s: dark, dour and depressing.

Cillian Murphy follows up his Oscar-winning role in the blockbuster “Oppenheimer” with a film that couldn’t be more different. In the Irish kitchen sink drama “Small Things Like These,” he plays a coal delivery man who inadvertently discovers the cruel mistreatment of unwed mothers at a local convent. While absorbing, “Small Things Like These” is low-key to a fault and good luck deciphering that whispering Irish brogue.

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