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Greta

Name: Greta
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Released: March 1, 2019
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 54
Cast: Angela Thompson, Arthur Lee, Brandon Lee Sears, Chloë Grace Moretz, Colm Feore

2019

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 42 Critics

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 69 Ratings

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5.9

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5.9	Your Score
5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 69 Ratings

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Greta

Movie Details & Credits

Focus Features | Release Date: March 1, 2019 | R

Starring: Angela Thompson, Arthur Lee, Brandon Lee Sears, Chloë Grace Moretz, Colm Feore, Graeme Thomas King, Isabelle Huppert, Jane Perry, Jeff Hiller, Jessica Preddy, Maika Monroe, Parker Sawyers, Rosa Escoda, Stephen Rea, Zawe Ashton

Summary: A sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) doesn’t think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. HavingA sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) doesn’t think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends — but Greta’s maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta’s life is what it seems.… Expand

Director: Neil Jordan

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 98 min

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Awards & Rankings

76	#76 Most Discussed Movie of 2019

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Critic Reviews

Steve Pond

Nov 19, 2018

While it sometimes feels as if it’s just not enough fun, once you get to the twin switcheroos and then the insane ending, you have little choice but to buy into horror-audience protocol and embrace it for the bloody hoot it is. Read full review

Jake Cole

Sep 17, 2018

Neil Jordan’s deft control of pace and tone elevates Greta past mere gimmickry, resulting in a comic thriller whose goofy humor only compounds its mastery of suspense. Read full review

Peter Travers

Feb 26, 2019

Jordan, working from a script he conjured up with Ray Wright, is in it for suspense tinged with laughs. But with these two dynamo actresses front and center, this nail-biter keeps you riveted. Read full review

A.O. Scott

Feb 26, 2019

The point, and the fun, is the wild mischief of Huppert’s performance, which grows lighter and more joyful as Greta’s behavior slides from menacing to murderous. Read full review

Peter Bradshaw

Apr 18, 2019

In all her signature deadpan intimidation, Huppert somehow gives the impression of being an exceptionally intelligent and self-possessed person who has never before acted in a film. Read full review

Richard Lawson

Feb 28, 2019

Huppert and Jordan are certainly capable of turning up the volume, but for whatever reason they pull back in Greta, getting stuck somewhere between shlockly art and arty schlock. That’s not a good place to be, even if it is a Greta one. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

Feb 28, 2019

Greta is petit Guignol trying to pass for Grand, a horror flick made by people who forgot to have fun. One of them, the director, Neil Jordan, made a memorable film called “The Crying Game” almost three decades ago. This is the groaning game, an inept tale of danger, entrapment and dismemberment. Read full review

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User Reviews

NoahMorrison766

May 15, 2019

This movie was very good!! The acting was magnificent, the cinematography was excellent, the quality was great, the story was unique.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Daniel_Endure

Mar 1, 2019

Greta does what every great thriller should - it keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat with thrills and tension until it all cuts to black. From the get-go, the script wastes no time getting started, and other than a few hiccups where the character's direction may seem a bitGreta does what every great thriller should - it keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat with thrills and tension until it all cuts to black. From the get-go, the script wastes no time getting started, and other than a few hiccups where the character's direction may seem a bit contradictory to the struggles they're facing, its near perfection. Chloë Grace Moretz gives the best performance of her acting career to date and, equally-so, Isabelle Huppert proves she was the creepiest and most convincing woman for the task of sharing a name with the film's title.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Panchogul

Jun 8, 2019

Realmente llegas a creer en que Isabelle Huppert es una vieja desquiciada y Chloë Grace Moretz nada mal tampoco, ambas muy comprometidas con sus personajes.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Bertaut1

May 4, 2019

Insubstantial and forgettable, but Huppert makes it moderately entertaining

Written by Ray Wright and Neil Jordan, and directed by Jordan, Greta is a schlocky B-movie through-and-through, with a completely ridiculous plot and over-the-top final act, all infused with a ludicrous genericInsubstantial and forgettable, but Huppert makes it moderately entertaining

Written by Ray Wright and Neil Jordan, and directed by Jordan, Greta is a schlocky B-movie through-and-through, with a completely ridiculous plot and over-the-top final act, all infused with a ludicrous generic campiness. It's one of those films that's so utterly horrendous in almost every way, it's actually kind of enjoyable. Very much in the tradition of stalker-thrillers such as Body Double, Fatal Attraction, and Single White Female, although nowhere near as good as any of them, there's precious little of anything going on in the film, as Jordan seems to have nothing to say. It is, however, good for a few laughs (not all of which are intentional).

Frances McCullen (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young Bostonian, is sharing an apartment in New York with her college friend Erica Penn (Maika Monroe). Having recently lost her mother to cancer, she is all-but-estranged from her workaholic father Chris (Colm Feore). When he finds a handbag on the subway, she returns it to the owner, Greta Hideg (Isabelle Huppert), who explains her husband died some time ago, and her daughter is living in Paris. The two strike up a friendship, with each filling an emotional void in the other's life. However, when Frances makes a discovery which changes the nature of their relationship, she tries to cut ties with Greta, who has no intentions of allowing Frances to walk out of her life.

Neil Jordan's eighteenth film, Greta is a B-movie before it is anything else. And although Jordan doesn't seem to be in on the joke, taking the material relatively seriously, Huppert is clearly having an absolute blast with the part - whether it's literally dancing across the set as she commits homicide, spitting chewing-gum into Frances's hair, gleefully engaging in some DIY emergency medicine, or overturning a table as if her life depended on it. She practically winks at the camera a couple of times.

Thematically, the film flirts with a few issues, but never really penetrates any of them. One could read it as a satire of NYPD inefficiency, the ineffectiveness of the justice system, and the misnomer that in a post #MeToo society, it's easier for women to report instances of stalking and harassment and be believed. However, none of these themes are explored in any significant way.

From an aesthetic point of view, the film looks great. Anna Rackard's production design contrasts the dark brown classical feel of the interior of Greta's house with the bright, grey, modernist look of the girls' sleek apartment. There's a really well-mounted scene where Greta is following Erica, and neither Erica nor the audience ever actually sees Greta, but we know she's there, because she keeps sending Frances picture messages of her pursuit. Nick Emerson's editing is especially impressive here, cutting rhythmically between Erica, Frances, and inserts of the picture messages. It's a very unsettling scene, and a unique way to stage a chase.

On the other hand, the aesthetic lets the film down in terms of location. Although set in New York, it was shot primarily in Dublin, and it shows; from the sequence of the traffic lights to the side of the road on which the cars drive to the street signs. It's very distracting, and really wouldn't have required that much effort to fix.

And there are a myriad of other problems. For starters, there's the script, wherein none of the characters are given much in the way of interiority or psychological verisimilitude. There's little emotional complexity anywhere in the film, no real sense of any of the characters having an unconscious. Frances comes across like a cog in the screenwriters' machinery, only behaving in such and such a way because the plot dictates it, with scene after perfunctory scene doing only enough to get us to the next scene and nothing else. Neither Moretz nor Monroe are able to escape the generic moulds of their character-types; the bright-eyed and innocent newbie whose kindness will be her downfall, and the tough friend who seems churlish and cynical but who ultimately proves to have been right all along.

Greta is a rote stalker-thriller that looks great, but offers nothing we haven't seen before; it's essentially a potboiler in a nice suit. No different from any of the late 80s/early 90s obsession thrillers, it's hard to figure out what Jordan was aiming for with this. You can't call it a psychological thriller about obsession and loneliness, because it does nothing with these themes, but you can't call it a self-aware B-movie, because Jordan doesn't seem to be fully cognisant that it's campy schlock. Huppert's performance elevates the material significantly, but even she can't paper over all the cracks. It's been 23 years since Jordan has made anything significant, and on the evidence of his last few films, it's going to be a while before he does so again.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

PhilipBlake

Sep 2, 2019

Just looks like a modern ripp off from Stephen King's Misery. But is still enjoyable even if the tense and "horror" are way softer. The performance from Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Hupert are the strong part of the film and probably save the lack of innovation in the screenplay andJust looks like a modern ripp off from Stephen King's Misery. But is still enjoyable even if the tense and "horror" are way softer. The performance from Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Hupert are the strong part of the film and probably save the lack of innovation in the screenplay and direction. But of course Hupert isn't Kathy Bates and doesn't scare the sh*t out of you as Annie Wilkes was able to do.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Live2Rise

Mar 5, 2019

Basically what this all adds up to is maybe I had a reason not to take the bait to see “Greta”. Even with Chloë Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert in the main roles, the film is enjoyable at best with some suspenseful moments and build up tension and criminally underwhelming at worst as theBasically what this all adds up to is maybe I had a reason not to take the bait to see “Greta”. Even with Chloë Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert in the main roles, the film is enjoyable at best with some suspenseful moments and build up tension and criminally underwhelming at worst as the real issue here lies in the predictable story, the fault in decision making for the characters and the slow burning build up not going anywhere once we get to the ending. The film, to me, is not relatively boring but if Moretz and Huppert weren’t here in, it probably would’ve been a different story. To be fair, it is one of Chloë’s better movies on her resume but that’s not really saying much. Like every other film, this one had potential via its director and screenwriter but magic doesn’t always formulate to the silver screen......and this is just one of those instances where the initial set-up is just lacking in subtlety to the point that this movie might as well be a satire.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Tehemai

Mar 9, 2019

One of the worst movies of the genre I've ever seen. Nonsensical writing for the characters and to say there are major glaring plotholes would be the understatement of the century. How such a script ever got approved is beyond me, it genuinely feels like it was written by a child. And if itOne of the worst movies of the genre I've ever seen. Nonsensical writing for the characters and to say there are major glaring plotholes would be the understatement of the century. How such a script ever got approved is beyond me, it genuinely feels like it was written by a child. And if it weren't for the music so desperately trying to sell you on the "standing around MENACINGLY" type scenes, you may find yourself pondering whether the movie was originally intended as a spoof of the genre.… Expand

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

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