Greta Review
Myla Tosatto
The tagline for the new Neil Jordan movie, Greta, is ‘Don’t Take the Bait”. Good advice when dealing with the character Greta. Not great advice when deciding on if you should see the film. True, it is not for the faint of heart (or someone who has just eaten, perhaps). Greta is a movie much like Single White Female, Fatal Attraction and Misery. If this is your cup of tea, Greta is great bait. Like those movies, there is heavy stalking, an animal death and torture. If you like suspense and the thrill of being scared, Greta is for you.
Frances McCullen (Chloë Grace Moretz)is a young, trusting girl who is new to New York. She finds a purse left on a subway that belongs to the stylish Greta Hideg(Isabelle Huppert). They strike up a friendship. Frances is in the need of a mother figure and Greta is lonely. Win-win, right? Well, no. What starts off as a lovely relationship soon goes off the rails. That’s when it gets exciting.
This is not a kid movie. I can’t stress that enough. It can be shocking at times. Very, very shocking (and not just because of the Manhattan loft that Frances lives in or the charming Brooklyn apartment that Greta occupies- where do people find New York real estate like that?).
My takeaway- don’t trust anyone, always carry a pocket knife on your person, never be nice to strangers,* and metronomes save lives.
* Who am I kidding? I totally would have ‘Taken the Bait’. Being nice to strangers is generally a good thing and Movie Myla is nothing if not good.
Greta is now playing in theaters!
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