Greta Parent Guide

Frances McCullen (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her friend Erica (Maika Monroe) have moved to New York City, where they are “breaking in” a nice Tribeca apartment for Erica’s father. Frances uses the time in the Big Apple to try to come to terms with her mother’s recent death and her father’s emerging relationship with another woman. After finding a forgotten bag on the subway, Frances returns it to the owner: a lonely Frenchwoman named Greta (Isabelle Huppert) and the two women begin a friendship. In Greta, Frances finds a mother figure, while Greta sees her as a substitute for her absent daughter. At least, that’s what seems to be happening, until Frances opens a cabinet at Greta’s house and finds it filled with bags identical to the one she found on the train. Frances begins to worry that she may not know Greta as well as she thinks she does. But getting rid of Greta turns out to be a lot harder than getting along with her…

As a piece of original writing, Greta isn’t going to win any awards. It follows a lot of the genre conventions a little too closely, which makes the first two-thirds of the film fairly predictable. This isn’t necessarily all bad, as it lulls you into a nice sense of security before all the real drama happens in the third act. But it does make the film a little less compelling than it otherwise might be.

On the other hand, this movie definitely delivers solid performances from the cast. Isabelle Huppert specifically stands out, with a performance reminiscent of Jake Gyllenhal in Nightcrawler. She seems to be taking a similar approach and spends a lot of her scenes blinking very infrequently. It’s a subtle move, but once you notice it, it stands out as odd and unsettling. Chloe Grace Moretz also does a fantastic job of playing the helpful, friendly, young adult who gets in over her head. It’s her performance that really sells Huppert’s work, and the two play off each other nicely.

Obviously, with an R rating, this film is not intended for children but it is surprisingly mild for horror films, with all of the violence happening in the last 20 minutes or so. Given its rating, there is less profanity than could be expected and no heavy drinking by main characters (although some characters are sedated against their will). There is no explicit sexual content, but some scenes of a woman being shackled to a bathtub or bed could be very disturbing to some viewers.

Greta is a little paint-by-the-numbers psychological thriller for the faint of heart, but the incredible performances by its lead actors really set it apart from other films in the genre. This production is a horror movie for people who don’t really like being terrified recreationally. Better yet, its short length keeps the pace clipping along without too much downtime. But just remember, next time you see an abandoned bag - it’s probably safer to leave it at Lost and Found.