Gretel and Hansel - A Movie Review

Fairytales have a way of getting into your head. Be careful walking through the forest.

Gretel and Hansel is a 2020 fantasy-horror film that adapts a new interpretation of a famous fairytale. Leaving their home in search of food and work, Hansel and Gretel are welcomed into the home of a stranger. Realizing what evils prevail in this house, the witch’s dark intentions unveil.

I was intrigued to watch this film upon noticing the switch in the names from the old fable. The casting of Sophia Lillis also caught my attention. Gretel and Hansel is a sinister film that incorporates a new message. While the film does a great job conducting a positive message about women’s leadership, the story lacks depth.

Sophia Lillis has become a stronger actress with each film she is in. I liked her interpretation of Gretel. She made her own decisions, looked out for her brother, and courageously took on the witch never letting her get inside her head.

Lillis’s role is a great example for young female audiences about being a leader. Although I feel like Lillis is being typecast in roles of outcasts or holding special powers.

It has been a while since I have read the original fable of Hansel and Gretel. Because Gretel’s role is expanded, there is not much for Hansel (Samuel Leakey) to do other than follow his sister around and question everything. He could have been given more to do instead of getting himself in danger. The most endearing component of the film is the sibling relationship.

Alice Krige’s creepy performance as the witch is spellbinding. She knew how to get inside your head. Well-meaning in her interactions with the children, her true purposes unfold.

Instead of making Krige an ugly-looking witch, she looks like a normal human. Her appearance is deceiving as the witch. She is a metaphor to the say she is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You can’t always trust everyone around you.

Krige and Lillis were wonderful in their interactions. Crawling inside of Gretel’s mind, the witch discovers her desire to be a leader and further helps make her feel powerful. But not the power that Gretel imagined.

Cinematically, Gretel and Hansel is striking. The camera work creates an out-of-place feeling. Startling blurred angles made the tone stand out. The way the camera focused on one character at a time during conversations was an artistic technique to showcase the tension. It was also hypnotizing the way filmmakers captured beautiful locations of the woods or the inside of this creepy house.

While Oz Perkins did a terrific job with this mesmerizing adaptation of a well-known fairytale I feel like he got lost in the story. The set-up of the story is captured well, but until the end, I was confused about what was happening. The witch’s backstory could have been told better. And there was also one strange scene that felt unnecessary altogether.

Another issue that I had with the film is the title. There was no need to change the order in which the names are placed. Yes, this is a new adaption that expands Gretel’s role, but it is strange to say. The original title sounds more ominous.

Overall, Gretel and Hansel has a defining message. It’s important to stand up for your own, it’s okay for women to be leaders, and don’t take things from strangers. We have to fend for ourselves instead of relying on others. Find your own story.

If you have not seen it, I recommend that you check out Gretel and Hansel. It’s a new adaptation that puts a different twist on a popular fable.