GRETEL & HANSEL

A wonderful live-action, retelling of the Grimms fairy tale. I find it interesting that they transposed the names in the title, giving Gretel top billing and I can understand why after viewing it. As much as Hansel is a vital part, this is Gretel's story. Beautiful scenery along with a nice, tight story really made this a pleasurable viewing experience. Natural light is used somewhat throughtout, however, in other scenes, the use of colors is very reminiscent of the original SUSPIRIA. Likewise, the use of nature and with this being a fairy tale, it also reminded me somewhat of THE WITCH in it's storytelling. Alice Krige stands out the most as the Witch (or Holda as she's called here) and young Sophia Lillis continues to impress at her young age with another great performance after going 2 rounds with Derry's menacing clown. Finally, I thought using the 1.55:1 aspect ratio was a bold but brave move; one in which I applaud and enjoyed. It works in 2 ways: the first being a symbol of the closeness between the 2 siblings, as they have no one else to rely upon other than each other after being thrown out by their mother. The second shows the confinement the children (and audience for that matter) have in relation to the Witch, where there is no hiding underneath her roof. Looking forward to seeing this again! 7/10