For decades, Hugh Grant was the ideal romantic-comedy heartthrob, so there’s something darkly subversive about casting him as a religiously minded psychopath who preys upon women in Heretic, a delightfully deviant new film that mixes theology,

"Heretic," which features two fictional missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is dismissive of what believers find sacred.

"I always think it's funny when Hugh meows, when he pulls out Monopoly," says East of the film, which premiered at TIFF earlier this year.

Hugh Grant turns his natural charm into a weapon in "Heretic," a stimulating discussion of religion that emerges from a horror movie wrapper.

That’s the premise, and the clever casting, of “Heretic,” a horror film starring Grant in his least likely role: a total sicko. Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, of “A Quiet Place,” the film features moody cinematography from Chung Chung-hoon (2017’s “It”),

Late in his career, Grant has become very adept at curving the English charms that made him a star toward malice.