Greta – Movie Review
Greta – R
Release Date: 2019
The programmer introducing Greta to the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival spoke about how he debated putting Greta into TIFF’s midnight horror series. He mentioned how a lot of people felt that the cell phone had killed modern horror; The thought being that in this hyperconnected world, it’s easier than ever to get help. He says that Greta turns that on its ear, making the cell phone a weapon for villains.
Greta stars Chloë Grace Moretz as Frances, a young woman living in New York with her roomate Erica (Maika Monroe.) Frances finds a purse on the subway that leads to her personally returning it to Greta (Isabelle Huppert.)
Greta would likely be classified as a horror movie if it were made thirty years ago. Many of the tropes are in there, though you may not be as painfully aware of them if you are not, like I was, sitting in front of two 60-year-old women that couldn’t handle it. “Don’t go in there!” “Call the police!”
It is an effective thriller as Frances finds out more and more about Greta, and Isabelle Huppert expertly transitions from a kind old woman into something more sinister. Greta is a few degrees of separation from Hansel and Gretel with some great spooky twists all its own.
