Ah, Hugh Grant; you know him, you love him, and you’re probably used to seeing him fill the shoes of any number of idiosyncratic goobers. His roles range from an Oompa Loompa, to Benoit Blanc’s husband, to one of the foulest scoundrels that Neverwinter has ever seen, to a deceitful, sexist, disgusting specimen of humanity, if one Bridget Jones is to be believed.
At this point, when we see Hugh Grant getting involved with something, then Hugh Grant is what we’re going to get. However, unless Grant has been hiding an evil twin this whole time, his next cinematic turn will unveil a much darker edge to the actor’s bag of tricks, and it looks absolutely delectable.
Employing Grant as only A24 could, Heretic stars the actor as the antagonistic Mr. Reed, who quickly becomes the archnemesis of Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher, respectively), two Mormon missionaries who seek to convert Mr. Reed. But by the time they clock the diabolical nature behind his initial gentlemanly demeanor, they’re already far too deep in the proverbial lion’s den, and will have to brave a myriad of faith-testing mazes and puzzles if they ever hope to see a latter day.
Heretic comes courtesy of writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, best known for penning and executive-producing A Quiet Place and The Boogeyman. The duo’s last directorial effort as writer-producers was 65, so hopefully they have a bit more luck here; the fact that A24 was interested is certainly a good sign.
Heretic creeps into theaters on Nov. 15.