Hugh Grant's evil side takes centre stage in this November's chilling horror movie Heretic. The one-time heartthrob plays calculating theological loner Mr. Reed who traps two Mormon women, Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton, (played by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) inside his house for the express purpose of testing their faith.
The movie interrogates belief systems and ideologies without ever compromising the suspense that genre fans expect. Here's why horror fans cannot miss this suspenseful and engrossing spectacle.
Hugh Grant is having a blast
Hugh Grant is living his best life in his villainous era (check out our post on Hugh Grant villains to find out more). In Heretic, the sly asides, quick-fire glances and awkward smiles with which we're familiar (Four Weddings et al) are nimbly recontextualised by the film's horror framework, meaning that what we're watching is a delicious mixture of the familiar and the uncomfortable.
The movie therefore scrambles our perception of Grant's on-screen iconography to deliberately leave us obfuscated and hanging on his every word and gesture, while also throwing us off-balance when he makes us laugh (which is frequently). This incrementally increases the suspense, scene by scene, until it reaches agonising proportions, which is exactly what horror fans want from a film like this.
Even more importantly, Grant is having a whale of a time ditching his nice guy image. His portrayal of a bookish, manipulative, sociopathic loner, a man who has lived for too long inside his own head, and who now gets a chance to test his most diabolical ideologies on two unsuspecting young women, is endlessly gripping.
Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East match Grant scene for scene
It's not just the Hugh Grant show, even though the film's main sell is the chance for him to go big and evil. Heretic simply wouldn't work without Thatcher (Yellowjackets) and East (The Fabelmans) acting as the dramatic counterweight. In truth, it is their film: the story is about a test of devotion and ideology, and how faith is all relative to perception.
Both actors do a superb job of showing the slow-burn terror of their characters. There's no melodrama or histrionics here, just the believable portrayal of two missionaries who come to learn more about themselves via the machinations of Grant's devious Mr. Reed. The movie regularly flips the script as to which of the two women will show the most tenacity and bravery in the face of these appalling circumstances, ensuring we're riveted throughout.
It's more reliant on mood, dialogue and atmosphere than jump scares
Heretic comes from the A24 stable – in other words, the golden seal of indie horror approval. The studio's batting average is formidable when it comes to thought-provoking chillers: the likes of The Witch (2016), Hereditary (2018) and Talk To Me (2023) have all emerged as artistic success stories that forgo crass, predictable jumps in favour of a prickly, provocative atmosphere of disquiet.
Fans will be pleased to know that Heretic continues the trend. Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, best known as the writers behind the A Quiet Place films, keep the framing crisp, succinct and largely immobile, prioritising empty space in the scene to create a potent sense of unease.
Most importantly, the direction isn't so flashy as to interfere with the performances. Beck and Woods block the movie almost like a chamber piece theatre performance, allowing the participants' physical body language and the intriguing, intelligently handled dialogue to take the place of mechanical horror conventions.
It features the most Monopoly analogy you've ever seen
We can't say more than that but you'll know when it happens. You've also got Hugh Grant invoking The Hollies' 'The Air That I Breathe' and doing an impression of Radiohead's 'Creep'. Don't say you weren't warned.
It's unexpectedly hilarious as well as scary
Grant is renowned for his razor-sharp comic timing, something that comes out of his intense script preparation. Grant has famously said that successfully timing a joke in a comedy context is as hard, if not harder, than going for a big dramatic moment in a serious film, and he imports these off-kilter comic qualities into Heretic to brilliant effect.
From lapsing into a Scottish accent to unexpectedly grinning at a moment of full-blooded horror, Grant demonstrates that his casting is a masterstroke. In truth, this is the kind of performance we'd readily see from him elsewhere, only the intriguing clash comes with the horrific surroundings in which Grant finds himself.
Beck and Woods mine the provocative, often uncomfortable symbiosis that comes from the relationship between horror and comedy. Both genres are designed to elicit a palpable visceral reaction, but it's the clash between feel-bad revulsion and feel-good, laugh-induced endorphins that help keep Heretic unpredictable to the end.
Are you ready for Hugh to go fully wicked? Then book your Cineworld tickets for Heretic. It previews on October 31st before opening on November 1st. Don't forget it's also Cineworld Horror Season throughout October with tickets for classic chillers priced at just £5.
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