Greta (2019) Horror Movie Review
Written By: JM
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Neil Jordan
Writers: Neil Jordan and Ray Wright
Producers: Sidney Kimmel, John Penotti, James Flynn, Lawrence Bender, Karen Richards
Date Released: March 1, 2019 (US)
Cast:
Isabelle Huppert as Greta Hideg
Chloë Grace Moretz as Frances McCullen
Maika Monroe as Erica Penn
Colm Feore as Chris McCullen
Stephen Rea as Brian Cody
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Waitress Frances McCullen finds a handbag on a subway train during one of her commutes and discovers through the ID’s that its contents are owned by a one, Greta Hideg. Frances tracks down Greta to return her handbag and finds out that she’s a motherly French widow who is very friendly. However, the more they spend time together, Frances begins seeing clues that Greta might be lying about her real intentions in befriending her and as a result, she cuts off their ties. What Frances soon discovers is that Greta is a lot crazier than she appears, especially when she begins stalking her and terrorizing her life.
Gore Factor
At an early point in the film, the viewer becomes aware that Greta is a person who is capable of committing evil deeds. Knowing this, it is to no surprise that the film escalates into a variety of violent scenes incorporating carefully calculated splashes of gore. For example, there is a scene in which someone’s finger is cut off, and as a result, the adrenaline that the viewer gets this scene becomes intense.
The Grave Review
Greta (2019) on the onset seems like a silly watch at first. The main villain is someone who wants to mother teenage girls to the point that she’d kill them if they don’t oblige to her whims. For her role as Greta, actress Isabelle Huppert is given the freedom to do something she may not be used to doing such as overacting to the point of ridiculousness. This is something that we’ve seen a lot of good actresses do such as Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction (1987), Kathy Bates in Misery (1990), and Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct (1992). Greta Hideg is fashioned to become that kind of villain, and while the sentiment behind the character seems quite xenophobic, she does make for quite an interesting sinister figure. As the film goes on, Greta becomes crazier which makes for more entertaining viewing.
On the other hand, Chloë Moretz who has already starred in numerous horror films has arguably rendered underrated performance as Frances. Add to that, she’s well-supported by upcoming horror superstar Maika Monroe who plays the sensible best friend constantly warning her about the consequences of befriending this mysterious stranger.
There are a lot of fun moments especially towards the end of the film. Director, Neil Jordan did a good job of crafting the movie using a combination of the storyline and his own artistic style to produce one cohesive and entertaining plot. At times, Greta (2019) feels like it is not a film made in the 21st century, but rather utilizes much of the horror elements which we have seen in the 1980s and 1990s movies in which insane female characters were a hit in Hollywood. Only this time, the target is a young innocent girl who knows better than not to fall into the traps of an adult whose intent is far more evil than what it seems to be.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Greta (2019) three graves out of five graves.
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