Greta

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Every year, there are a couple of underrated and/or overlooked movies. Greta is 2019’s first film to belong to both categories. It was definitely overlooked since Hellboy stole the spotlight, and it’s also underrated based on online feedback. Critics being divisive is kind of expected, but audiences are disliking Greta more than the former group, which I find quite surprising. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a lot and that’s mostly due to the outstanding performances of its leads. Isabelle Huppert is incredible as Greta, as expected from such an acclaimed actress. Her character has a very mysterious personality which is well-developed throughout the runtime. Undeniably, her character’s past and decisions turn out to be a bit questionable, in terms of logic. I don’t believe that it’s straight-up rubbish, but I can’t deny that some aspects of her persona lack consistency and sense. Fortunately, it’s nowhere near Serenity‘s level of absurdity. In the end, Huppert elevates her script and delivers a creepily captivating display.

Chloë Grace Moretz is one of the most talented young actresses out there, and I already stated a few years ago that she will be a much-desired star, sooner or later. In this movie, she shows off the subtlety of her expressions at the same time that she proves how amazing her range is. She embodies the charitable and innocent personality of her character like she is, indeed, Frances. Two wonderful performances that become even better due to the palpable chemistry that the two actresses have with each other. With such a short runtime, their interactions are interesting in the beginning, becoming more and more intriguing as time goes by. In addition to these two, Maika Monroe (Erica Penn) surprised the hell out of me! Not only her character doesn’t follow the stereotypical “blonde, dumb friend”, but she really offers an exceptional performance.

The screenplay does have some nar...

Insubstantial and forgettable, but Huppert makes it moderately entertaining

The philosopher is right who says that nothing thicker than a knife's blade separates happiness from melancholy; and he goes on to opine that one is twin fellow to the other; and draws from this the conclusion that all extremes of feeling are allied with madness.

• Virginia Woolf; Orlando (1928)

In Claude Chabrol's Violette Nozière (1978), Isabelle Huppert plays a prostitute who contracts syphilis from a client, tells her parents she inherited the disease from them, kills her father, tries to kill her mother, and falsely claims that her father molested her. In Chabrol's La Cérémonie (1995), she plays a woman who shoots an entire family to death as they watch TV. In Michael Haneke's La Pianiste (2001), she plays a pianist who uses broken glass to injure the hand of a fellow professional. In Christophe Honoré's Ma Mère (2004), she plays a woman who commits suicide whilst having sex with her son, timing it so that her death coincides with his orgasm (just don't ask). In Paul Verhoeven's Elle (2016), she plays a rape victim who sets out for revenge on her rapist, all the while indulging in ever more extreme play-rape scenarios with her (married) neighbour. It's quite a CV of depravity (and that's only five of the 120+ films in which she has appeared).

And so we have Greta. Written by Ray Wright (Pulse; Case 39) and Neil Jordan, and directed by Jordan (The Company of Wolves; The Crying Game; Interview with the Vampire; Michael Collins), this is schlocky B-movie territory 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. Kind of. Very much in the tradition of stalker-thrillers such as Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984), Adrian Lyne's Fatal Attraction (1987), an...

Decent enough thriller but not especially memorable, though both Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz turned in fine performances. It's probably fine as a rental.