Review of Gretel & Hansel (2020) by Athlbr3 — 12 Feb 2020

This film definitely is not for everyone, especially (what I suspect to be) a large segment of the traditional horror fan base. This film's main focuses are conveying the atmosphere through its (slightly) oppressive and alien visuals and telling a story about female independence in the times of Middle Age Europe, when and where a young girl's choices in life were either to be a kitchen-bound broodmare or a nun (not all that fundamentally different in the Western world until one-and-a-half centuries ago, actually). Holding and practicing strong notions of self-pride and (insolent!) independence since before the film's story event starts, Gretel (Lillis) is determined to make her own way in the world.

I really like the film's reexamination of the morals and public perception of The Witch, Holda (Krige & De Gouw), for there is certainly some truth in many a feminists' complaint that (some) men fear powerful women.

Sophia Lillis makes for a solid lead actress, but I have to say that Alice Krige commands the screen better, if for no other reason than her longer experience in her craft. Sam Leakey (as Hansel) is okay, but just an afterthought, at least to me.

Where the film does fall short is relying too much on mood and visuals to stretch a pretty straightforward story to 87 minutes. As it barely contains any action scenes to speak of, I feel that 70 minutes would a more appropriate running time mark. Also, a few of the plot points are brought up without any followup, such as the things Hansel encounters when he wanders into the woods by himself.

To all the man-children whining about the film being too politically correct (PC) due to its title and other supposed indignities, I urge you to pick your shriveled brains and actually remember whom the protagonist is, because it sure ain't Hansel.