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Making new friends can be hard—especially when you live in a big, impersonal city. It seems to be much more likely that you’ll meet the wrong people. And that’s exactly what happens to the young woman in Greta, whose good deed lands her in big trouble.
Greta stars Chloë Grace Moretz as Frances McCullen, a young woman who’s still adjusting to life in New York City. On the train home from work one day, she sees a bag that’s been left behind—and, despite her roommate’s protests, she decides to return it to the owner. The owner turns out to be a lonely widow named Greta (Isabelle Huppert), who’s eager to make a new friend. Still mourning the loss of her mother, Frances is happy to have the connection, too—until she realizes that Greta is hiding something.
Had Greta had the usual D-list thriller cast and a no-name director, it would have been little more than a fleeting blip on the box office radar. After all, the creepy stalker story is really nothing new. It’s eerie and suspenseful, but it isn’t especially new or surprising. When an Oscar-winning writer like Neil Jordan helms the project, though—and he casts a lovable young actress and a gifted veteran for the lead roles—you might expect something more than just the same old thriller. And while the cast does make it more than just another cheap B-movie, they can do just so much here.
Greta is set up to be a tense and creepy kind of guilty pleasure. The sweet, lonely girl (who comes from the friendly, charming small town of…Boston?) naïvely befriends this mother figure and chooses to spend time with her instead of going to parties with her roommate. But it isn’t long before she discovers that their meeting wasn’t just a happy coincidence—and it takes a dark and sinister turn.
But just as some nagging little issues in the characters’ relationship will make you suspect that things aren’t quite right about this lonely widow, there are also nagging little issues with the story that will make you suspect that things aren’t quite right about the film in general. And, eventually, it spirals into a maddening mess of cheesy writing, cheap tricks, and clichés that turn the film into a ridiculous head-scratcher made by a cast and crew who could have done so much better.
If you’re just looking for an eerie but laughable thriller for some brainless entertainment on a Friday night, Greta will provide some chills and some laughs. But if you’re looking for something special, this certainly isn’t it.
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