Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- eerie
- brooding
- foreboding
- late night horror viewing
- dark fairy tale marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's rich visual design and atmospheric stylization while finding its storytelling underdeveloped and its leisurely pacing divisive.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film relies on carefully composed images, stark geometric spaces, and lush stylization to make the forest and witch's house feel like threatening visual tableaux.
Gretel's journey is framed as a young woman's movement toward autonomy and recognition of her own power.
The film reimagines the traditional witch story through isolated countryside settings, witchcraft, ominous woods, and a grim folkloric atmosphere.
Critical reception repeatedly identifies the film's mood, eerie stillness, and leisurely dread as central to its effect.
Films like Gretel & Hansel, and why
The Witch
Shares a revisionist fairy-tale framework, oppressive woodland atmosphere, and stylized folk horror centered on children confronting supernatural danger.
Pan's Labyrinth
Shares symbolic horror, painterly production design, female self-discovery, and a dark folkloric treatment of childhood trauma.
The Company of Wolves
Shares surreal visual design, unsettling domestic spaces, and a female protagonist navigating dreamlike supernatural menace.
The Brothers Grimm
Shares a modernized fairy-tale premise, threatening wilderness, and atmospheric rather than purely shock-driven horror.
Movie Details
- Director
- Osgood Perkins
- Release Date
- 2020-01-30
- Runtime
- 87 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (1620)
Cast
- Sophia Lillis
- Samuel Leakey
- Alice Krige
- Jessica De Gouw
- Charles Babalola
- Fiona O'Shaughnessy
- Donncha Crowley
- Jonathan Gunning
- Beatrix Perkins
- Abdul Alshareef
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Gretel & Hansel about?
- A visually hypnotic folk-horror reimagining in which a desperate sister and her younger brother enter a witch’s house and confront the frightening costs of power.
- What is Gretel & Hansel like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Gretel & Hansel as slow, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Gretel & Hansel violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Gretel & Hansel as mild.
- What did critics think of Gretel & Hansel?
- Critics broadly praised the film's rich visual design and atmospheric stylization while finding its storytelling underdeveloped and its leisurely pacing divisive.
- Which films are like Gretel & Hansel?
- Films with a similar feel include The Witch, Pan's Labyrinth, The Company of Wolves, and The Brothers Grimm.
- How long is Gretel & Hansel?
- Gretel & Hansel runs 87 minutes.
- Where can I watch Gretel & Hansel?
- In United States, Gretel & Hansel is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex.
