Big cities can be impersonal and isolating and cause people to do some very strange things. Nowhere is the axiom made more apparent than in writer/director Neil Jordan’s new film, Greta. Going against the grain and casting the ever elegant Isabelle Huppert as the main source of mental distress is a master stroke.
Frances McCullen (Chloë Grace Moretz) is struggling after the death of her mother and feels a real sense of loneliness. Even her gregarious roommate Erica (Maika Monroe) can do little to help lift her mood. When Frances finds an expensive ladies handbag left behind on the subway and seeks out the owner, things take a turn to the dark side.
When the handbag’s owner extends the hand of friendship, Frances’ fragile state of mind prevents her from seeing the danger signs and she takes up the offer without a second thought. They grow close quickly and all seems idilic until a reveal changes things dramatically.
The film’s short running time (98 minutes) doesn’t prevent it from getting under your skin and bathing you in a thick layer of creepy. There are millions of stories in a city as large as New York and Greta provides one that will give you caution and a sense of dread.
Rob Hudson
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