There’s hardly even a hint of blueberry pie in the new trailer for Heretic—no, this one gets straight to the point. Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) has a… a bone to pick? A lecture to deliver? A question to ask? However you want to describe it, he has a situation for the two missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who have, foolishly, come into his cozy little house. They won’t be leaving via the front door. Instead, it’s a choice between doors labeled “Belief” and “Disbelief,” both of which seem to lead to a whole lot of creepy, dank, basement-looking hallways, and unseen things that elicit screams.
In case his intentions are unclear, the trailer lingers for a moment on a bit of art on Mr. Reed’s wall: a drawing that depicts the nine circles of hell a person might pass through between Paradiso and Inferno—with a tights-clad Lucifer waiting at the bottom.
Heretic is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who also wrote A Quiet Place and 65 (also known as the Adam Driver Dinosaur Movie). Its young stars are known for Yellowjackets (Thatcher) and Meet the Fabelmans (East). Grant, of course, is a once-upon-a-time rom-com superstar now apparently delighting in a darker era; he was charmingly evil in Paddington 2 and went even further to the dark side in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. If he’s gone full devil here, one wonders what his next move might be.
Heretic is in theaters November 8th.
