Gretel and Hansel Movie Review

This is an article “Gretel and Hansel” by Marc Primo.

Release date: 31 January 2020 (USA)

Directors: Oz Perkins

Language: English

Production Companies: Orion Pictures, Automatik Entertainment, Bron Creative

Producers: Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger

SPOILER ALERT -- Oz Perkins latest feature film gives us frights we couldn’t have imagined stemming from a beloved children’s fairy tale. Known for other horror masterpieces such as The Blackcoat’s Daughter, and I Am the Pretty Little Thing That Lives in the House, Perkins returns with this haunting and bloody Brother’s Grimm original.

Many surprises are in store for audiences who are expecting a somewhat shallow retelling of two children going into the woods and experiencing a fateful encounter with a wicked witch. In the film, Gretel (Sophia Lillis) plays the true heroine (thus the title), who as the elder one is in charge of the safety of his brother Hansel (Sammy Leakey) from the hands of the evil witch (played with much substance and bravado by Alice Krige). Even during the first act, we already know that there is a more feminine-driven and tension-filled feel to the entire film.

But this retelling won’t fail gore and brutality seeking fans and will certainly impress those who are looking for sophistication and unconventional yet effective storytelling. Early on, audiences will be subjected to an eerie feeling as the children go on their way in search of food in the woods. The film’s cinematography (executed perfectly by Galo Olivares of Roma fame) works well in painting a dreadful and ominous tone as sun rays partially streak through the trees leading to a darker path.

Gretel and Hansel tread the woods and chance upon some psilocybin mushrooms before arriving at the witch’s house where they devour her delicacies. And as the rest of us know how the story goes but with evident friction between the females of the trio.

The witch tries to seduce Gretel with subliminal messages in the hopes of convincing her of true potential-- an outcast soul just as the witch. However, Gretel is told that her strengths cannot be realized with Hansel in the picture and the complication turns from visual to psychological as Gretel considers her heart’s true desires.

Audiences will theorize how Perkins used Gretel and Hansel as a vehicle to promote feminism no matter how cryptic the execution might be. But Perkins seems comfortable in his own storytelling prowess, and confident in how his finale pans out as the defining scene that ties up all the loose ends perfectly. It’s pretty much safe to say that Perkins has mastered his own darkness as a director and is ready for larger projects after this one.

Gretel and Hansel succeeds in marrying the old-school fairy tale elements we’ve all come to love in cinema and a new unfamiliar gloom that only Perkins can conjure into the screen. It offers fresh visual and mental treats that put us in the children’s shoes as we wonder if we can really have it. And just as how the story goes, we give in because we know our appetite for horror has been craving new blood for a long time now.

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