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Gretel & Hansel Movie Review

Gretel & Hansel is a 2020 horror film directed by Oz Perkins and starring Sophia Lillis. It’s a visually amazing film that is very weak plotwise.

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“But everyone dies.

Indeed, but not right now“

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This is a new, more different take on the famous Hansel and Gretel tale that among other things is more feminist in approach and it doesn’t involve a house made out of candy. I found those changes okay, not done for the better nor for the worse. What appealed to me most in this instance is the film’s very artistic approach, especially when it comes to its visuals and atmosphere.

There are a couple of very creepy scenes here, but for the most part the movie focuses on slowly built up dread and despair, and it does achieve that feel for the most part. Above all else, it’s worth seeing for the visuals that are absolutely glorious and stunning.

The production design is mesmerizing as every house was stupendously imagined in terms of interior design and the overall look to it. I loved the period attention to detail with the clothes and architecture being suitably old-fashioned. The film’s imagery is also highly artistic at times, especially as it involved those hooded figures in the woods. Speaking of the woods, the forest looked stunning, very ominous and the atmosphere in the film is memorably dark and creepy.

Unfortunately, Gretel & Hansel did not amount to much at the end of the day despite all of those things going for it initially. That’s because the script is so weak. Not much happened here in terms of storytelling and the movie never gained any momentum whatsoever. I did not like the ending and I also disliked the beginning for just throwing you into the setting with no setup whatsoever. Only the mid act is pretty good, but that wasn’t enough for me.

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Also, for all of its atmosphere, the movie was rarely truly scary. That’s because it was quite repetitious in its one-note tone of dread and despair with no breathing room for characterization as well. I did not, thus, care for its characters in the slightest, though the performances are pretty good, especially that of always great Sophia Lillis. It’s nice seeing her get another big role after ‘It’.

Gretel & Hansel is a film that entirely squandered its strong potential due to its very weak storyline. The visuals are fantastic – the production design is splendid, the cinematography is phenomenal and the imagery is sometimes quite ominous and even artistic. However, the characterization is very mediocre and only the mid act was very strong with the other two being quite disappointing.