Heretic review – Hugh Grant has devilishly dark fun in talky, twisty horror

Toronto film festival: the actor takes on an unusually villainous turn in a button-pushing descent into hell that works best before its cards are revealed

Hugh Grant, an actor who gained mammoth worldwide fame as a charismatic lead of easily exportable British romcoms, has worked hard off screen to remind us that this really isn’t who he is or ever really wanted to be seen as. He once called himself “a nasty piece of work”, also listing the many female co-stars who ended up loathing him, a reputation supported recently by Jerry Seinfeld and at one point Jon Stewart, who called him the worst guest he’s ever had.

It has felt rather freeing to see Grant untethered by expectation (last year’s disastrous Oscars red carpet interview saw responses split by location, with some calling him rude and others simply calling him British) and it’s allowed him to take on some lightly darker roles on screen. While he might have played baddies in Paddington 2 and Dungeons & Dragons, there’s still been a roguish PG-mandated charm shining through, a villain who might send his henchmen in but wouldn’t quite twist the knife himself.

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