Gretel & Hansel
Orion Pictures | Release Date: January 31, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
4
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleJan 31, 2020
This is Young Adult horror at its finest. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiJan 31, 2020
In reality, this is the kind of low-key gem that horror fans are always looking for but so rarely find — one that is smartly conceived, visually stylish and genuinely creepy at times. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Chandler LevackJan 29, 2020
Everything about Gretel & Hansel is weirder, smarter and way more cinematic than I’d expected, thanks to some fascinating movie choices made by director Oz Perkins. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineOktay Ege Kozak Feb 20, 2020
The film thrives within a dream-logic vibe, especially in Olivares’ cinematography, with its heavy emphasis on symmetrical framing, stark contast and lush use of yellows and blues, evoking subliminal terror. Read full review
80
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiJan 30, 2020
As a fantasy, Gretel & Hansel is a delectably smart concoction, thoughtfully reevaluating the original tale, adding all-new layers of the ominous, and yet also keeping the story rooted in an amorphous, fairy tale past. As a horror movie, Perkins’ movie relies more on disquietude than external threat, and demands a thoughtful audience’s mental energies instead of a rowdy audience’s popcorn-spilling flinches. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeJan 31, 2020
If one of the boundaries being tested in this film is viewers’ patience, the reward for—to use a refrain repeated throughout the film—“trusting the darkness” is well worth the commitment. Read full review
75
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 31, 2020
Oz Perkins‘s mystical, occult-heavy take on the classic folktale from the Brothers Grimm has so much style, and so many bold ideas, that it seems destined to become a cult classic someday – the type of film people find years from now and ask, “Why the hell haven’t I heard of this before?” Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDerek SmithJan 30, 2020
Beginning with the reversed names in its title, the film announces itself as a distinctly feminine spin on the Grimm fairy tale. Read full review
75
ConsequenceTrace ThurmanJan 30, 2020
Gretel & Hansel updates a classic fairy tale with impressive results. It’s a gorgeous and moody film that trusts the intelligence of its audience. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJan 30, 2020
Gretel & Hansel may alienate some horror movie fans with its extremely leisurely pacing and emphasis on atmosphere and mood rather than visceral shocks. But while the film certainly demands patience, it provides ample rewards with its lush stylization. Read full review
67
Original-CinJim SlotekJan 30, 2020
At an hour and a half, Gretel and Hansel shouldn’t be a slog. But at a certain point in the last act, it definitely labours for its chills - and all that feasting eventually leaves the audience more hungry than scared. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoJan 30, 2020
Gretel & Hansel is a full course meal when it comes to cinematography and production design, but the sleepy, hollow narrative pacing is just too stogy to overcome. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKimber MyersJan 30, 2020
Gretel & Hansel is Perkins’ biggest film to date, and it cements a filmmaker in full possession of a visual prowess that few others with far longer filmographies can claim. But while he offers a stunning feast for the eyes, the substance is likely to leave viewers still hungry. Read full review
50
VarietyAndrew BarkerJan 30, 2020
The problem is that so many of its virtues feel compromised. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJan 30, 2020
Essentially the story of a young woman coming into her power, Gretel & Hansel is quietly sinister, yet too underdeveloped to truly scare. Together, Jeremy Reed’s production design and Galo Olivares’s photography weave a chilly spell that’s regrettably undermined by the opacity of the storytelling. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 30, 2020
And when the credits roll, we cast our eyes about the theater at all the other paying patrons casting their eyes around the theater, all of us wondering the same thing. “Wait, that’s it?” Read full review
12
The Associated PressMark KennedyJan 30, 2020
Gretel & Hansel is as visually arresting as it is tedious, a 90-minute movie that really should have been a 3-minute music video for Marilyn Manson or Ozzy Osbourne. It’s in the horror genre only loosely. It’s more eerie, if that’s a genre. Actually, it’s like dread for 90 minutes. It’s dreadful. Read full review
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