Despite a promising start and interesting premise, “Greta” ends up being a tedious thriller. Even a strong performance by Isabelle Huppert cannot save this underwhelming film.

Frances McCullen (Chloe Grace Moretz) has moved to New York City after the death of her mother. While her father has moved on with his life, Frances is still adrift. For the time being, she is working as a server at a high-end restaurant and living with her best friend Erica (Maika Monroe) in a lovely apartment paid for by Erica’s dad.

One day while traveling on the subway, Frances notices a black purse on a seat. Assuming that it is lost, she takes it to the lost-and-found office, which is (conveniently) closed. She then goes home where she and Erica go through the contents of the purse.

Finding an address, Frances takes the purse there and meets Greta Hideg (Huppert). Invited into Greta’s apartment, Frances offers to take Greta dog-shopping. Greta seems reluctant to do this.

Frances later receives a phone call from Greta and they go to purchase a dog. Soon they are spending a lot of time together. Erica is concerned that Frances is using Greta as a mother substitute, a notion which Frances rebuffs.

One evening Frances is at Greta’s flat setting the table. Needing candles, she is directed by Greta to a particular cabinet. Frances tries various drawers and doors. Behind one door, she finds a multitude of identical black purses like the one she found on the subway. Freaked out, Frances feigns illness and leaves.

She tells Erica about this and Frances ceases communication with Greta. However, Greta is not so easily thwarted. She leaves phone messages for and sends multiple text messages to Frances.

While Frances is working at the restaurant, Greta barges in demanding to speak with her. Frances tells Greta that their relationship is over.

Soon Greta is standing immobile across the street from the restaurant on a daily basis. She begins to stalk Erica as well and send pictures of Erica to Frances. Greta finally loses it in public when she shows up as a customer at the restaurant and goes ballistic. She is carted away in an ambulance.

Calling the next day, Frances discovers that Greta has been released. Horrified, she takes a mug out of the microwave and becomes woozy. Greta is in the apartment. Soon she is hauling a dazed Frances out into the street and asking for help for her ill relative.
The movie is strong up to the point of Greta being hauled away for medical care. Then it deteriorates into a hodgepodge of problems. There are so many that if this were a review with spoilers, I could write a page about those flaws.

The screenwriters, including the director Neil Jordan who misfires with this picture, do an excellent job portraying the stalking of one person by another. Having been stalked by a customer at my workplace for several months, I can attest that these scenes convey how creepy, frightening, and unnerving such an act is. They also accurately depict the limits that a victim of this phenomenon has in ending this behavior, especially if the stalker is in a public space when they act out.

Up to this point, the film is quite scary as you wait to see what will unfold. But then it veers into the unlikely and the unbelievable when Greta somehow not only gets into Frances’ apartment but also drugs her drink without Frances noticing. For some reason, a fantasy sequence is inserted around this time that is just jarring and does nothing to enhance the story.

I can only say that this is just the beginning of credulity-straining events, such as Greta performing acts like she had the strength of the proverbial strong man at the circus. It is as if the writers don’t know what to do once the stalker captures their prey. The ending is completely anti-climactic and almost a relief to see the film finally conclude.

You can understand why actors of the caliber of Huppert and Moretz would want to try to inhabit these characters. To have a chance to work with Neil Jordan is also a lure. But unfortunately the script is not up to their standards.

Huppert gives a wonderfully disturbing performance as Greta. Nuances such as her shoeless happy dance after she successfully subdues someone are both comical and brilliant. She fully embodies how a psychopath can pass for normal until they act out.
Moretz is not given much to work with as an actor. Her character is far too passive. As a result, Huppert steamrolls over her in their scenes together.

The lead should have been Monroe as Erica. The movie tries to make her seem like a shallow person interested only in fitness and having a good time. But she is the one with common sense and some gumption. If she had been Greta’s foil throughout the film, sparks would have flown.

Stephen Rea is wasted in a tiny role as a detective in the negative part of the film. His character seems to be ill-suited to his profession as he makes major mistakes.
This movie is like a Choose-your-own-adventure. You can watch the beginning and then imagine a better ending. I would recommend this film only to fans of Isabelle Huppert. Better movie choices in a similar vein would be “The Collector,” “Room,” or “The Woman in the Dunes.”

My initial rating is one and a half stars, but I am bumping this film up half a star because of Huppert and the veracity of the stalking scenes.

Two out of five stars

A sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz) doesn’t think twice about returning a handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. The owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love of classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to the widowed Greta. The two become fast friends – but Greta’s maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta’s life is what it seems.

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Colm Feore, Stephen Rea
Director: Neil Jordan (Academy Award winning director of THE CRYING GAME)