I think Mattson illustrates the movie’s Gnostic theme quite effectively. And given the similar Kabbalist theme in Aronofsky’s previous film, Pi, the context fits. The number of Gnostic references has to be intentional.
Gnosticism is misrepresented by the focus on the "evil God." It's exactly the same as if Catholicism was wiped out down to the last man, woman and child, and then the killers pointed to the crucifix 700 years later and made a big thing about Catholics murdering God and being a torture cult. The "evil God" teaching of the Gnostics was not in any way an equating of that with the infinite God - it couldn't, by definition. Instead, it was a way of teaching that desire will not be, and cannot be, satisfied in human life. Only in the next life, the "higher life," will desires be satisfied in the soul, through union with God. And that this world is infested with demons who wait to snare people - something we increasingly see every day all around us, and which is directly stated in Ephesians 6:12.
In fact, this split between these "two" Gods was an enormously powerful teaching tool - to only look for satisfaction in spiritual life and in following Christ's teachings about how to live and treat each other, rather than for any worldly gain, because such gain is limited and will inevitably fail. Because they could see it all around them in the hardships and dissatisfactions of life, and how they were hunted down and destroyed for their faith. In fact, the teaching went so deep in the people, and was so profoundly imbibed, that when they were slaughtered and burned alive, the priests of the inquisition and the soldiers supporting them marvelled at their calm in facing death, even to the point of singing psalms as they died.
Gnostics were a gentle people who loved God. Those who mock and denigrate them, even to this day, only reinforce the truth of their beliefs by the irrationality and selective memory of their hatred.
Aranofsky represented none of any of that, and Mattson used the movie to promulgate hateful stereotypes about these people. But of course, to the victors go the spoils. And if people are going to praise the extermination of an entire religion down to the last child, what does that make them, if they do not villianize their victims? Thus, to this day, "Christians" spit at these dead - who died praising Christ, at the hands of those who claimed the "protection" of the faith. So who acted like demons?