The concept of fairy tale horror movies is an untapped well if done right and this one is. So many spectacular images and colors along with the darkness that are like an illustrated fairy tale brought to life. While this movie is slowly paced and takes some time to actually show you anything it does eventually show you a real villain. I'm not a fan of folk horror movies that don't actually have a supernatural villain based in folklore. I think that this movie presents the idea of a witch needing to feed off of kids to get power and how the powers will corrupt. The colors in this movie are best when seen in darkness and I would encourage you to watch this on the biggest screen in the darkest room to immerse yourself in it more.
The film starts with a fairy tale story about a father taking his ill daughter to be cured by a witch. She does and the child is gifted with supernatural abilities. The child also begins to use her abilities for evil and killing innocent people such as her own father. She is abandoned in the woods where she brings children to their deaths.
Teenage Gretel (Sophia Lillis) and the younger Hansel (Sam Leakey) are kicked out of the house by their mother after Gretel refuses the advances of a man offering her a housekeeper job. They are rushed by a ghoulish man in the woods by are saved by a woodsmen with a crossbow. He lets them stay a night before sending them off to find work. Hansel is captivated by a house smelling with cake. A woman inside the house named Holda offers to let them stay and eat as much as they want if they work. Hansel learns how to hold an axe properly while Gretel learns how to housekeep. In a way they are learning to do everything they can their but just for Holda. Gretel is plagued by nightmares, specifically of a white bricked basement.
I love so many things about the colors in this movie. Early on we see a shot of orange leaves on the ground as well as some yellow and green leaves throughout. It is perfectly autumnal. I enjoy how big one part of Holda's house looks and it looks like something out of a fairytale drawing. The paneling on the windows of her house is also red, yellow, and orange so it allows for some beautiful reflections of light. Holda herself is actually what I would think of when I would think of a witch as a kid. It also takes me back to Snow White though with how the witch can make herself look younger and really be anything so much as she has the power.
This movie's interpretation of the gingerbread style house normally found in the fairy tale
Holda is actually what I would think of when thinking of a fairy tale witch.
Jessica De Gouw as Younger Holda
Spoiler Section
Greta eventually tells Hansel of her suspicions and wonders why the food never goes bad and stays plentiful. Hansel eventually has his suspicions when he sees a pentagram carved into a tree in the woods. Eventually him and Greta argue and she sends him away. Greta has been learning how to fly a broom. The understand and the power the witch has provided her has changed her mind. This I find to be the most fascinating part of the movie. This and the story at the beginning show that women have more power toward the supernatural but at what cost? We find out that the brick room is a room where Holda keeps the remaining feed and she uses her powers to turn it all into food to seduce more children. Greta uses her newfound powers against Holda and pins her to the wall before Hansel can climb into the fire. This awakens Hansel from the trance he was put in and Holda is burned to death, a great visual with the bright blue fire. Greta stays behind to home her powers and all of Holda's victim's souls are free to move on. The movie ends with Greta's hands turning black.
There isn't a whole lot to interpret with this movie. I just enjoy how it immerses me in that time and that fairy tale world and in some ways made me feel like a kid reading a dark fairy tale. The colors are just incredible to see every scene. It was nice to see Sophia Lillis in something after It.
Rating: 8/10
Trivia: The title of the movie was changed since the story focuses more on Gretel
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