For the best part of ten years Hugh Grant has been setting about turning himself from charming, affable middle class twit from rom-coms and occasional prestige dramas, to a loveable character actor who pokes fun at his Hugh Grant-ness at every turn. Not just his scene stealing turn as a washed-up actor in Paddington 2, but his character centric roles in Florence Foster Jenkins, Dungeons & Dragons even fantastic mini-series A Very English Scandal.
But, Heretic is something else entirely. Hugh Grant in an A24 horror. The film finds two Mormon missionaries Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) as they arrive at the house of Mr Reed (Grant) to speak to him about their faith and to convert him. What starts out nice, becomes increasingly uneasy and then very very scary.
Writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are no strangers to stripped back thrills, having penned the fantastic John Krasinski-directed A Quiet Place, and it helps that they were the writing pair behind last year's shock-fest The Boogeyman that gave Sophie Thatcher such a great showcase for her talents. Here, however, they strip back to the jumps and bumps for a more slow building tension.
Much of Heretic is long, drawn out, quite uneasy conversations in which the inherent fear is that Hugh Grant is an older man and these two young women might not be savvy enough – thanks to religious indoctrination – to know they're in danger. Beck and Woods make sure to show us the two girls are modern, an opening conversation shows this is no period piece but one that exists where religion is a core theme.
Thatcher continues to be a fantastic screen presence, having carried most of The Boogeyman she has also become the MVP of smash-hit series Yellowjackets, able to imbue strength and fear into her performances, while East does a wonderful job of playing someone who has bought fully into a religion almost at the expense of understanding the real world.
But really this is Grant's showcase. The film allows Grant to do his usual charming affable schtick and then, very slowly, turn it. What was once upon a time delightful quirks, with just a little bit of age and a lack of score becomes very sinister. Those witty little asides that made the early rom-coms so fun, in the hands of horror filmmakers, become almost sadistic throwaways, undercutting whatever point he makes to show he doesn't care.
It's a blackly comic performance, his dry delivery of “what are your thoughts on polygamy?”, or a rant in which he talks about The Hollies, Radiohead and Lana del Rey. Grant carries to the film (though his female co-stars sure help) on the strength of knowing that he is playing against type while carrying on the Grant-isms we know.
As the film progresses it moves into a mode that feels more in line with something like Barbarian, which is no bad thing – that was a great film – but it does so at the cost on the broiling tension that the first two thirds offered. It's third act might not be for everyone, and naturally the film wants to play things close to it's chest until reveals come.
If there was justice for horror films Grant would be in the Best Actor conversation with his deliciously wicked turn, but it stands as his best showcase yet.
Heretic is in cinemas from 1st November