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The fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel is widely-known. 2020 dark fantasy film “Gretel & Hansel” adapts the Grimm fairy tale for the big-screen in an Orion Pictures production directed by Osgood (Oz) Perkins. Benefiting from awe-inspiring visuals and strong acting performances, “Gretel & Hansel” entertains in spite of its molasses-slow pacing.
“Gretel & Hansel” begins with a meta moment with a fairy tale within a fairy tale is relayed through the story of the girl in the pink cap. So the legend holds that a baby girl was born sick without hope of survival. Her father took the girl to a witch in the forest who, while managing to cure the infant, imbued the child with the gift of second sight as well as many other powers.
Cut to 16-year old Gretel (Sophia Lillis), and her 8-year old brother, Hansel (Sam Leaky). The siblings are cast out by their mother, sent into the woods in search of food and work. Rescued by a hunter (Charles Babalola), Hansel and Gretel are warned aganist talking to wolves. But it’s the humans in the woods which are to be feared. Venturing into a haunting hollow, Gretel, with Hansel in tow, happens upon an elderly woman, Holda (Alice Krige) with a resplendent table loaded with cakes and delicacies beyond which the children have imagined. While initially, Holda appears benevolent, providing food, labor, and shelter, soon her generosity turns sinister.
Oz Perkins, in this retelling of the Grimm fairy tale, chisels a visually-striking film. Drab black and grey scenery is punctuated with vivid colors: red smoke billowing from a chimney, lush green leaves dancing gracefully in the wind. Holda’s house, with its pitch black wood and amber-colored windows manages to appear at once welcoming and warning, a vivid murder house worthy of inclusion in a Dario Argento flick. Cinematography courtesy of Galo Olivares is disorienting and hallucinatory, sometimes quite literally. At one point, the famished Gretel and Hansel hungrily dine on mushrooms which turn out to feature psychedelic properties resulting in one of the best on-screen depictions of a trip alongside 2019’s Ari Aster-directed “Midsommar.” Even its musical backdrop, a John Carpenter-esque, clearly Goblin-inspired dark synth score composed by Rob that will undoubtedly draw “Stranger Things” comparisons, cooks up a fresh update of a classic story.
Acting performances are strong. Sophia Lillis, who wowed in “It,” and “It Chapter 2,” plays a likable character in Gretel. Sam Leakey, in his motion picture debut, follows his sister in wide-eyed wonderment. If the change of putting Gretel’s name before Hansel’s isn’t clue enough, “Gretel & Hansel” infuses the age-old narrative with a feminist twist. Oz Perkins crafts a movie that’s more coming-of-age film than horror film. To that end, “Gretel & Hansel” isn’t scary so much as it is visually arresting and unsetting.
Although the departure from horror tropes such as jump scares arrives as a welcome breath of fresh air, “Gretel & Hansel” is a bit undercooked. The slow pacing never bores, and even at an anemic by today’s standards 90 minutes, it’s either a bit short or too long. What its feminist themes promise is never actually delivered in full, and the movie relies too much on style over substance. Nevertheless, it’s a unique, highly enjoyable movie that re-imagines the Grimm fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. Lovely cinematography, superb acting performances, a synth-laden score, and a feminist story arc make “Gretel & Hansel” a delightful destined-cult classic.
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