{"id":7010,"date":"2019-02-28T20:53:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T01:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=7010"},"modified":"2019-02-28T21:18:38","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T02:18:38","slug":"review-greta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=7010","title":{"rendered":"Review: GRETA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Creepy but not scary, \u201cGreta\u201d is a bland horror\/thriller. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Even the presence of popular A-list talent and an Oscar winning writer\/director can\u2019t elevate \u201cGreta\u201d above formula. And in an effort to distinguish the film from other lower profile entries, restraint prevails, delivering dressed up but middling chills, highlighted by early tension that fails to land an impactful punch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chlo\u00eb Grace Moretz plays the naive Frances McCullen.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When a young woman named Frances (Chlo\u00eb Grace Moretz) finds a handbag on the New York subway, she decides to return it to its owner. That owner is a lonely widow named Greta (Isabelle Huppert), who sweetly beckons Frances inside her warm alleyway apartment. The two bond over a comforting cup of coffee and a nice cookie. Because Frances recently lost her own mother, she\u2019s naturally drawn to the homey but exotic Greta. The two embark on a friendship, but when Frances discovers that Greta makes a habit of leaving her purse on the subway in an effort to ensnare prey, Frances decides to break things off. Of course, Greta won\u2019t go away quietly, and begins to stalk Frances. Things escalate from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Huppert plays the title character, who preys on the young.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no spoilers in the above plot summary\u2014everything can be gleaned by watching the trailer for the film. And to be fair, \u201cGreta\u201d is an efficient tale told over a scant 98 minutes. The lean screenplay offers up some tense moments in the film\u2019s second act. Huppert, who plays cold and dangerous better than any other actress available today, is a great choice, and she hams it up colorfully, exhibiting growing unhinged behavior. Moretz is a good victim, too. But the movie\u2019s third act unravels as events strain credulity. This reduces Huppert to a cartoon and makes Moretz little more than a warm body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maika Monroe plays best friend, Erica, who offers unheeded advice.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the helm of \u201cGreta\u201d is Neil Jordan, who is undeniably a talented director. His early work garnered him an Academy Award nomination in 1993 for directing \u201cThe Crying Game,\u201d and he won the award that year for best original screenplay. In the 1980\u2019s, he gave us the fantastic \u201cMona Lisa\u201d that featured an award worthy turn by the late Bob Hoskins. And Jordan showed us back then with the fantasy entry \u201cThe Company of Wolves\u201d that working in the horror genre was in his wheelhouse. Above all, based on Jordan\u2019s work to date, it\u2019s safe to say that he\u2019s best at crafting stories with edge populated by authentic characters that connect with viewers meaningfully. But with \u201cGreta\u201d his sensitivity to character actually conflicts with typically effective horror genre requirements. Given Jordan\u2019s pedigree, he\u2019s just not able to push this story far enough to make it fun and scary. The result is bland and frustrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Frances falls into Greta’s trap.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A film like \u201cGreta\u201d should either be an engrossing drama with horror facets or a full-on exploitive horror\/thriller (from the Brian De Palma school). The problem with this movie is that it falls somewhere in between. Perhaps, with a little more development, the dramatic elements might have taken shape. But given how quickly events progress, no time is given to make Greta and Frances little more than pieces to advance plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point, frequent Jordan contributor Stephen Rea appears as a private detective. His breezy introduction is rushed, and his departure from the narrative is just as rapid. Seems like there was a lot of story left on the cutting room floor, and given how good Rea always is, I wished more was done with his character. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreta\u201d is mysterious to an unsatisfying fault. It\u2019s the kind of ambiguous horror film that might be appealing to that narrow group of viewers who don\u2019t like horror movies, but want to see one anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Jordan tackles the horror\/thriller genre with uneven results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[660,1305,105,1304,1307,1303,121,91],"class_list":["post-7010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-chloe-grace-moretz","tag-greta","tag-horror","tag-isabelle-huppert","tag-maika-monroe","tag-neil-jordan","tag-review","tag-thriller","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7010"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7023,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7010\/revisions\/7023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}