I don\u2019t know if I liked Greta, but there are parts of it I loved. Isabelle Huppert, to start with the obvious, brings a wiry grace to the madness of the title character, to the point where she literally dances with murderous intent. Director Neil Jordan and Ray Wright, with whom he co-wrote the script, engage in some fancy footwork to keep this modern-day Grimm fairy tale from becoming too predictable. And there\u2019s a satisfying redemption (involving a giant spoiler I\u2019ll address later, be forewarned) for a supporting character. But these elements are finely stitched over a fairly pedestrian frame. <\/p>\n
In the first few minutes of the film, we learn that Frances, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, is a na\u00efve and trusting young woman on her own in big, scary New York City. She won\u2019t return her father\u2019s messages. She lives in a nice loft with her best friend Erica, whose father bought the digs as a graduation present. Erica is the street smart one, so when Frances brings home a handbag she found on the subway and announces her intentions to bring it back to its owner in person, Erica tells her she\u2019s crazy. Erica thinks they should just take the cash they find and have a spa day or a colonic. Frances is aghast. That\u2019s just not the way they do things back home. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s my first problem. \u201cBack home\u201d isn\u2019t Mayberry, where time stands still and everyone loves their neighbor. \u201cBack home\u201d is Boston. The city I live in now. I place where a guy will harass you for a full city block for wearing a hat with the wrong sports team on it, where they throw beer at players they actually like. But no matter. Maybe she\u2019s from Marblehead. We\u2019ll move on. <\/p>\n
Frances does bring the bag to Greta, who is incredibly grateful, and obviously lonely, estranged from her own daughter. Frances befriends her, seemingly out of the kindness of her big Boston heart, and sometimes to the exclusion of Erica, who can\u2019t understand why Frances doesn\u2019t want to go out and be fabulous in cute shoes at parties all the time. When Frances confides in Greta that her own mother has died recently, the dynamic is set. They understand each other, and maybe they can help each other get past their respective issues. <\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t take long for Frances to discover what the audience already knows, that Greta\u2019s intentions are less than pure. The movie is in full-on stalker mode at that point. And Huppert gets to start to unleash the crazy. She menaces Frances at work and follows her everywhere. It\u2019s the same tension at the heart of 101 percent of Lifetime movies \u2013 the police can\u2019t help Frances unless Greta actually does something to harm her. As delightfully intense as Huppert is in the role, the suspension of disbelief is mixed. <\/p>\n
Frances cuts all ties with Greta, but she\u2019s concerned about the dog she helped her adopt. You read that right. The dog she helped her adopt. I love dogs. Probably more than you (fight me). But that\u2019s the connective tissue that leads Frances to information to contact Greta\u2019s daughter, and it wore on my patience. It happens again a short time later when Frances consults with Erica. It\u2019s clear that Greta isn\u2019t going to go away, Erica suggests she be given the \u201cslow fade\u201d treatment. Frances should tell Greta, it\u2019s not you, it me, and I\u2019m going away for a while to work on myself. That should work, right? Telling a sociopath who is following you like a raptor on a morally-flawed secondary character that you\u2019re going on vacation for a while? There\u2019s no way she\u2019d follow up on that, right? Maybe there\u2019s a cinematic wink in there, but it\u2019s the wink of an inept magician allowing you to see the harness coming out of his sleeve during the levitating ball trick. Why are you doing this to me? And that\u2019s how we get to the resolution. <\/p>\n
Only two characters have an arc in the story. Greta, who goes from spinster to serial killer fairly quickly, and Erica, who goes from bratty trust fun kid to capable, calculated, and stone cold at the very end. God damn, don\u2019t mess with Erica. She will hunt you for as long as it takes, and if Frances isn\u2019t around to be her conscience, she will take you out. And likely in a stylish pump. <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re still reading at this point, you are no longer concerned with spoilers. Still, I\u2019ll keep it light. I was expecting Greta to have an appropriately Grimm ending, for the villain to win the day. Next victim shows up, Greta smiles innocently, but we know it\u2019s not innocent, and then an actual slow fade. But it doesn\u2019t. Frances still has friends. Well, friend. Well, Erica. Jordan teases us with the \u201cnext victim\u201d ending, and gives us one final turn. I saw it coming about thirty seconds before the reveal, but when it happened, it left me smiling. If you want to lure a young woman to her eventual death with a fashionable handbag, don\u2019t choose one of Erica\u2019s friends. <\/p>\n
And so all\u2019s well that ends well, and Greta ends well. Maybe I did like Greta. <\/p>\n
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