Hugh Grant loves playing a cad. With Bridget Jones’s Diary, he turned the tables on his bumbling rom-com hero era, by mastering the role of fuckboy. Since then, he’s been the delectable villain in winsome movies like Paddington 2 and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and even a cantankerous Ooompa Loompa in Wonka. But Grant is going deeper and darker with Heretic.
The trailer for the upcoming A24 release plays with the English actor’s irrepressible charm, introducing him as a smiling, cardigan-sweatered gentleman, who welcomes young missionaries (Yellowjackets star Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) into his home. But these well-meaning women will soon find their faith tested as this trailer takes a turn. Who knew a blueberry pie-scented candle — paired with some husky whistling — could be so ominous?
Writer-director duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who penned A Quiet Place with John Krasinski, turn their attention to a cat-and-mouse tale that’s sure to be riddled with terror. Or, as Grant himself promises of the choose-your-own-disaster premise, “It will make your hearts beat faster. It may even make you want to die.”
Heretic opens in theaters Nov. 15.
