Gretel & Hansel is a 2020 dark fantasy horror film based on the German folklore tale "Hansel and Gretel" by the Brothers Grimm. The film is directed by Oz Perkins, and produced by Fred Berger, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and Dan Kagan, with a screenplay by Rob Hayes. Sophia Lillis and Sam Leakey portray the titular characters, alongside Alice Krige and Jessica De Gouw. The story follows Gretel and Hansel as they enter the dark woods in order to find work and food, and then stumble upon the home of a witch.
It was announced in October 2018 that Orion Pictures had started developing Gretel & Hansel, a film adaptation based on the German folklore Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, with Perkins directing the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Hayes. At the same time, Lillis was set to star in the film, with other actors being added shortly after, and filming taking place between November and December 2018 in Dublin, Ireland.
Gretel & Hansel was released in North America on 31 January 2020 by Orion Pictures through United Artists Releasing. The film grossed $22 million worldwide and received generally mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its visuals and cinematography, as well as the horror elements and acting, but criticism for the film's slow pacing and screenplay.
Plot[]
The prologue opens with a story about "A Beautiful Child with a Pretty Pink Hat". A father takes his deathly ill baby daughter to be cured by a witch, who, in doing so, gifts the child with supernatural abilities. As the girl grows, the villagers come to hear her premonitions, but her sinister nature is soon revealed when she begins murdering innocents, including her own father. The girl is then abandoned in the woods, where she lures children to their death.
The scene shifts to teenaged Gretel, who is implied to also have supernatural abilities, and her younger brother, Hansel. As their father has died, their mother sends them out to find work. Gretel is offered a housekeeping job but turns it down when the master of the house asks about her virginity. Their mother rebukes Gretel for not helping provide for them and threatens to kill them if they do not leave the house.
The siblings flee and find a hut to stay for the night, but a ghoulish man appears and attacks Hansel. A huntsman saves the siblings and takes them to his home for the night, before sending them off to find work the next morning. They get lost in the woods and begin to starve. Hansel is lured away to a house by the scent of cake, and Gretel pursues him. A woman named Holda invites the children in for a meal and allows them stay, in exchange for work. Hansel is sent into the woods to practice handling an axe, while Gretel assists with housekeeping. Hansel is happy with their new home, but Gretel is suspicious of Holda and troubled by disturbing visions and nightmares. Sensing Gretel's abilities, Holda initiates her into witchcraft and teaches her to levitate a broom with flying ointment.
Hansel soon becomes wary of Holda after he discovers a satanic pentagram carved into a tree. The siblings argue that night, resulting in Gretel forcing out Hansel, who is then lured into a trap by Holda. Gretel confronts the witch, who insists she is doing the girl a favour by getting rid of Hansel. It is then revealed that Holda was the mother of the child from the story; Holda loathed her daughter for killing her husband. After exiling her daughter into the woods, Holda is haunted by the girl's spirit until she cannibalizes her other children to gain the same power. Holda has been luring children to their deaths in the guise of an elderly woman ever since.
Holda drugs Gretel and straps her down in the cellar, where she intends for her to eat Hansel. Now in the form of a young woman, Holda lures Hansel into a cage atop a large fire pit so she can cook him. Gretel manages to free herself and uses flying ointment on her hands and face to levitate a broom. She pins Holda against the wall, where she slowly burns to death over the fire, awaking Hansel from his trance.
The next morning, Gretel assures her brother that Holda is gone and sends him back home. Their mother is implied to have died and Hansel will work as a woodsman. Gretel stays behind to hone her craft. She sees the spirits of Holda's victims, now finally free to pass on, just as her fingertips begin to turn black, like Holda's.