Gretel & Hansel (2020) Review

Gretel & Hansel (2020) Review

In a time a long, long ago in a distant fairy tale countryside, Gretel (Sophia Lillis) leads her little brother, Hansel (Samuel Leakey in a terrific acting debut), into the dark woods in search of work and or food in order to help themselves and their mother but stumble upon an evil witch in a cabin that has a taste for children.

GRETEL & HANSEL (also known as GRETEL & HANSEL: A GRIM FAIRY TALE) is an extended take on the classic German folklore story by The Brothers Grimm. With having the story focus more on Gretel it made sense to tweak the title from its original HANSEL & GRETEL and rather than have the children of similar age here the girl is sixteen years old and the boy eight.

GRETEL & HANSEL is a movie that you’ll either love or hate and judging from the majority of reviews written by Joe Public online they really do hate it. I totally get why some would not take to director Osgood (I AM THE PRETTY THING THAT LIVES IN THE HOUSE) Perkins’ version of the classic Grimm fairy tale however I actually like the film for the very same reasons that the majority do not.

 It’s slow paced but deliberately so, the acting is exceptional – Sophia Lillis (who played Beverly Marsh the 2017 version of IT) is a revelation, absolutely nailing it) and every frame of the movie looks like a work of art. It could be argued that the film is more style over substance but when something looks this good who really cares about substance. Sit back and let the stunning imagery do the talking.

For my money GRETEL & HANSEL is arguably the best fairy tale horror since Neil Jordan’s THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984). With lush cinematography courtesy of Galo Olivares and an ominous syth-led score by musician Robin Coudert (one of the best film scores of recent years) this is an otherworldly dream-like flick with captivating performances and imagery that remain strongly set in your mind long after viewing.