Greta

The whole "eccentric stalker" psychological thriller sub genre has honestly jumped the shark. Few films in the genre do anything to set themselves apart or stay memorable or even interesting. Unfortunately, Greta can't seem to buck that trend, to the point of being painfully predictable. I found myself predicting major plot points and character beats way before they actually happened, negating any sort of suspense right off the bat. I get the commentary on the well intentioned naivety of the millennial generation, I get the commentary on how society exploits the "niceness" of young women, I get the thematic significance of the socio-economic disparity between Greta and Frances, I've just seen it all done before so many times and done far more interestingly.

The film also has serious problems with pacing. It moves far too fast for me to buy Greta's obsession with Frances and it felt jarring how quickly the film moved through their relationship. This really hurts the whole movie as a whole as reveals that should really leave an impact on me just end up falling flat.

Despite all of this, I still found myself entertained by Greta. A lot of that comes down to just how outstanding the acting performances were. Isabelle Huppert was the entire reason I went to go see this movie and she does not disappoint in the slightest, completely stealing the show as Greta. The class and sophistication that she brings to the role makes the character alluring, fascinating and even darkly likable despite the horrific and evil things she ends up doing. You can absolutely tell she's having a blast chewing the scenery and you can definitely see why Frances begins the film so drawn to her. That being said, when her darker nature is revealed, Huppert is genuinely terrifying in the focused madness that she brings to this character. Nobody could have played her better.

Chloe Grace Moertz is also very solid. She's always been a solid actress and that's no different here, bringing a real wide eyed sweetness and innocence to the character of Frances that constantly had me rooting for her to escape Greta's clutches. She gives off an almost Snow White-esque vibe where her kindness and capacity for unconditional trust almost becomes her downfall and Moertz is honestly quite charming in the role.

I was really impressed by Maika Monroe, which is something I never thought I would say. She brings a radiant confidence and strength to her role of Erica and her comedic timing is surprisingly on point as well. She can act! Who knew?

I'll also give credit to the visual direction. While the writing leaves much to be desired, Neil Jordan's elegant, Gothic sensibilities bring a real beauty and glamour to the production. This is a gorgeous looking film and Jordan definitely manages to capture the enchanting nature of New York City from the eyes of a young Bostonian girl.

Overall, Greta is worth a a watch for the performances and the direction, but it's hardly worth catching in theaters. This has Netflix written all over it and I'm not sure if it really even justified a theatrical release. That being said, it's still a decent enough thriller to watch. It's painfully cliched and completely predictable, but it's a watchable thriller all the same.

The first half of this film is really good. The suspense builds throughout and a good story develops. Then, a scenario occurs in which there is only one obvious course of action and when the protagonists inexplicably do something else, all interest in the movie is lost because, from that point on, you will be distracted by the question "Why have they not just....?"

The acting was great and there was definitely some real suspense created but also a lot of cliche and unbelievable things occurred (mostly things secondary to the plot actually). I felt that the movie could have been shorter/ended earlier. Overall though the movie was very well acted and enjoyable. Left with a slightly different (and more cautious) view of the world.

Poor, unimaginative and illogical script. Protagonists continuously made unrealistically silly decisions and everything always end up with the worst possible result. I know we have to suspend disbelief to enjoy works of fiction but come on...there still needs to be a semblance in reality of how folks make decisions and odds play out. Sequence of events were so far fetched that it was obvious the writer/s were simply trying to keep story going to fill an average movie run time. The mere fact that victim, a younger and fitter female can not overcome the villain, an old and frail lady, sums up the irrationality of this film.

A patchy and irregular film crippled by a script written on a tiny Post-It with a few completely far-fetched plot twists that I will leave untold so as not spoil the movie. The cast of this American film is notably composed of Isabelle Huppert, one of the most famous and talented French actresses, with Romy Schneider, Catherine Deneuve, Stéphane Audran, Simone Signoret or Marion Cotillard. Although she is gorgeous, she vainly tries to save this literally incredible movie, not to mention Colm Feore or Stephen Rea, two secondary actors in this movie that we do not see often enough on the screens. With a scriptwriter worthy of the profession, the film would have been significantly better. Moreover, I have really a hard time recognizing the style of the director of La fin d'une liaison (1999), Entretien avec un vampire (1994) or The Crying Game (1992). As a synthesis: frustrating and disappointing.