Gretel & Hansel

Cinephiles know that January is a dumping ground for terrible movies.  I’m not talking about pictures like 1917 which go wide in the first month.  Award-worthy films like that have limited openings in December in New York and LA to qualify for the Oscars.  No, I mean productions that drop in January for the first time.  Horror flicks are especially suspect in the winter months because the best ones are usually distributed in summer and fall.  The Grudge and The Turning both opened to extremely negative reviews and “F” Cinemascores.  Gretel & Hansel is also a horror movie released this month.  Plot twist: It’s actually good.

Gretel & Hansel is indeed based on the 200-year-old German folklore tale.  Those fables collected by the Brothers Grimm have always been a little twisted so the fact that this has been reimagined as a dark adventure isn’t such a stretch.  Director Osgood Perkins or rather Oz (son of Anthony) essentially recounts the same legend but with a few tweaks.  As the reversal of the title implies, the girl is the focus in this drama.  Gretel (Sophia Lillis) is now a teenager looking after her younger brother, Hansel (Sam Leakey).  Their father has already passed on.  After their awful mother kicks them out of the house, the two venture into the woods in search of food.  They come across a dwelling in a clearing where they meet a mysterious woman named Holda (Alice Krige).  In exchange for food and shelter, they’ll cook and clean for her.  Sounds like a fair trade…or is it?

The cast is uniformly excellent — particularly actress Alice Krige (Star Trek: First Contact) who narrowly gets my vote for the MVP as the wonderfully creepy Holda.  She delivers her lines with a Shakespearean energy that imbues the words with more importance than they actually deserve.  Sophia Lillis is exceptional as Gretel too.  Her interaction with the aged woman — OK let’s be honest, witch — is an interesting relationship that propels the story forward.   Gretel may exhibit an anachronistic personality but that demeanor makes her more relatable to a modern audience in fact.   The behavior applies to her brother, Hansel (Sam Leakey) as well.  Gretel has visions that verge on nightmares.  The witch senses Gretel’s abilities.  She teaches Gretel how to tap into her powers.   Also worth mentioning is Jessica De Gouw as a young Holda who is a malevolent presence.

Gretel & Hansel is the third feature from director Perkins.  He bestows a vibrancy to this ancient yarn heretofore unknown.  His previous efforts were The Blackcoat’s Daughter which made a mere 20k domestically and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House which debuted on Netflix – both horror films.  It’s clear that Perkins loves the genre.  He explores it with a rare subtlety.  The box office of Gretel & Hansel may have been a modest achievement.  It earned just $6.1M in the U.S. opening weekend but given that the budget was only $5M, I’d call that a success.  It’s well on its way to profitability.

There is so much to recommend about this production.  As the PG-13 rating would imply, this movie relies far more on atmospherics than gore.   The outstanding production design is arguably the movie’s strongest asset.  Jeremy Reed extracts fear out of gloomy spaces.  The rooms and buildings have an ominous air to them.  Cinematographer Galo Olivares captures all of this with stylish elegance.  He was a collaborator on Roma and the talent he brought to that triumph is clearly evident here.  One particular set piece involving a bucket of guts leaves a lasting impression.  Now let’s talk about the soundtrack.  I love the Beatles and the Moody Blues so I’ve always been a sucker for any melody that features a mellotron.  The eerie synth-heavy score is composed by Paris-based composer ROB aka Robin Coudert (Maniac, Horns).  He adds a glorious soundscape that further immerses the viewer into a sinister environment.

If I must register a gripe, it’s that director Oz Perkins favors slow-burn pacing at the expense of a compelling story.  Ironically it’s during the climax that the chronicle suddenly feels rushed.  Plot is not this saga’s strong point.  However I enjoyed this overall, so I won’t end on a pessimistic note.  The gorgeous production is content to revel in a dark climate.  It’s intensely disturbing.  The music and visuals really add to the sense of dread.  I was quite taken by the mood.  Gretel & Hansel mesmerizes while it simultaneously unsettles.  What it lacks in a narrative, it more than makes up for in some hauntingly beautiful tableaus.

01-30-20