Movies
[Review] ‘Gretel & Hansel’ Casts a Moody, High-Concept Spell
The classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel” spins a quick story of a brother and sister caught by a cannibalistic witch. They’re lured by sweets to her isolated wooded home and barely escape with their lives by outwitting the witch. Gretel & Hansel stretches out the succinct tale to feature-length, giving a high-concept horror twist to a coming-of-age story.
With their father gone, it’s up to teen Gretel (Sophia Lillis) to provide for her mother and younger brother Hansel (Samuel Leakey). When she fails to secure a less than savory housekeeping job, their mother casts the siblings out, leaving them to fend for themselves. Bizarre encounters with strangers and struggles with starvation lead them down a long winding path, and they eventually find themselves deep in the forest where they discover a strange home with a sumptuous feast spread out on the dining room table. The lady of the house, Holda (Alice Krige), invites them inside and immediately takes Gretel under her wing, suspecting the young woman harbors untapped powers awaiting to be released.
Like the enticing spread of food that lures these siblings, Gretel & Hansel is a feast for the eyes. Penned by Rob Hayes and directed by Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House), this dark coming-of-age story favors mood and atmosphere over traditional narrative. For those familiar with Perkins’ work, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Those looking for a more fleshed out world with substantial answers will find disappointment; this is a hypnotic story about a young girl grappling with her burgeoning womanhood, told through a gorgeous macabre lens.
Galo Olivares’s (Roma) breathtaking, firelit cinematography amplifies Jeremy Reed’s (Hard Candy) production design. The sharp angular details of Holda’s home, enveloped by hazy fog, and the disorienting layout within make for an enchanting aesthetic. Robin Coudert’s (Revenge, 2012’s Maniac) enthralling synth score ties it all together. This movie is, essentially, an entrancing mood piece.
Krige, in masterful makeup by Liz Byrne, once again delivers a foreboding and ambiguous villain. She plays the witch with a dangerous kindness, and her interest in Gretel a source of mystery. Does she have nefarious designs for the teen, or is she genuine in her exuberance to find a kindred spirit? Jessica De Gouw silently exudes power as young Holda, and Lillis brings a restrained yet confident performance of her own. It’s Leakey, making his feature debut here, that proves the weak link among the small cast. The young actor is stilted and struggles to recite his lines with any depth or plausible emotion. As the narrative progresses, less is required of his character, which is for the better.
As with the original Grimm story, Gretel & Hansel also faces an abrupt ending. Or at least it feels rushed compared to the languid pacing up until this point. That meticulous pacing will ultimately be the major sticking point for most. Like Perkins’ previous efforts, his latest operates on mood and atmosphere over complex narrative, and it’s one that lacks mainstream appeal. Those looking for more meat on the narrative bones will likely leave hungry. The film is mesmerizing style over substance, but one that transports you if you’re open to its high-concept spell.
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
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