Gretel & Hansel
Directed by Osgood Perkins
I’ll lay my cards on the table, I was not looking forward to Gretel & Hansel. The idea of another retelling of a classic fairy tale as a horror movie had me rolling my eyes. And a horror movie coming out in January? I was ready to walk out hating this just as much as I hated The Turning and churn out another hit piece review. But then something magical happened! It did a lot I wasn’t expecting and I walked out happy to have seen it. What did it do so right? Keep on reading to find out.
Yes Yes Yes, We All Know The Plot.
I don’t think I should have to explain the basic plot of this movie but here you go: Gretel and Hansel are two young folk, Hansel being considerably younger than Gretel here, who are forced out of their home for food reasons. While on the brink of death the two come across an odd house in the thick of the woods, housing a strange but hospitable old woman and a mysterious feast. The two stick around and things get stranger and stranger, especially when the old woman takes an interest in Gretel’s, uh, career path.
What Great Visuals!
What makes Gretel & Hansel unique is not necessarily the story, even though I am a fan of where things go, but the visual prowess that Os Perkins brings to the table. I’ll be upfront, Gretel & Hansel is visually stunning, to the point where I was sitting mouth agape in that theater, amazed at how Perkins had managed to make every shot so distinct and colorful while still sticking to a drab period setting. It’s a beautiful film, and worth seeing in a theater for that reason alone.
Cold Do Without The Narration Though.
So much of the story is told through these visuals, and I think that’s one reason why Gretel & Hansel has been so divisive. That’s not the only reason mind you, there are legitimate issues with Gretel & Hansel that I will now get into. My first problem is not a huge deal but is rather distracting and is a mild issue that pops up now and then, excessive narration. A little narration now and then is fine, but when the movie opens with narration, ends with narration, and has narration throughout explaining things we are currently seeing it gets a bit much. It didn’t break the movie for me but it was rather annoying.
The Performances Are Good!
One thing that has proven divisive is the plot of Gretel & Hansel, which is light and character-dependant. I don’t have an issue with this because I always prefer character-driven stories even if the stories are a little light, and sure, the story here is barely there but it’s supported by 1 good performance and 1 excellent performance. The interplay between Gretel and The Witch makes the movie, and how their relationship develops is the real story that kept me invested. Alice Krige, who plays The Witch, absolutely blew me away. What could have been a one-note and predictable character comes to life as a complex, charismatic, and genuinely frightening person who takes young Gretel under her wing.
For The Most Part…
Sophia Lillis, who plays Gretel, is always a bit overwhelmed when she’s playing opposite Krige, but I think that makes sense thematically. Having Gretel be constantly awestruck by this strange hermit that she meets is perfectly in keeping with the story, and while Lillis doesn’t deliver dialogue as well as Krige, her face is incredibly expressive and she can always get across what she’s feeling that way. Everyone else is pretty much just okay. I wouldn’t single anyone out as being bad, but there are some quibbles I have with the dialogue. The dialogue is all period, or pseudo-period maybe, and it can be difficult to figure out exactly what people are saying sometimes. That’s half from the dialogue itself and half from the mumbly nature of many of the performances. I’m not sure if that’s from the actors not enunciating properly or some sound mixing issue but it did distract me occasionally.
It’s A Mixed Bag But I Enjoyed It.
There’s some good and some bad here, but at the end of the day, I enjoyed Gretel & Hansel. Its strengths more than carried the movie for me, and while there are problems, I am willing to let them slide just so I can see more of Os Perkins’ weird visuals. I understand it isn’t doing particularly well at the box office, which is a bummer, but maybe it’ll get more recognition when it hits VoD, I’m sure this would be a great atmospheric home viewing. If you’re into atmospheric character-driven horror, I would definitely recommend Gretel & Hansel in theatre. If not, maybe wait for it to go on a streaming site. I’m just happy to get a chance to support something a bit more out there than I thought it would be.
I have been enjoying all your reviews, time is not to be wasted, would you recommend as a must see or place it on the list of whenever?
Thank you! I liked it quite a lot but I know this isn’t a movie for everyone, put it on the list and check it out when you have time but don’t drop everything to see it. I really liked it but someone I saw it with totally hated it so opinions are pretty varied on this.