Gretel & Hansel: Everything we learned from the new trailer

Gretel & Hansel is based on the influential fairy tale we all know and love. The official trailer was released yesterday, and here’s everything we learned.

The classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel gets a horrifying update this year in the upcoming movie Gretel & Hansel starring IT: Chapter One and Sharp Objects actress Sophia Lillis. The film’s director, Oz Perkins, also directed The Blackcoat’s Daughter, and it looks like Gretel & Hansel will follow in its footsteps with a similar creepy atmosphere.

It’s also impossible not to watch the new Gretel & Hansel trailer without making comparisons to The Witch. Both movies are period pieces about a frightening witch, and both are full of disturbing imagery.

Between the man putting a fire poker down his throat, the witch pulling hair out of her throat, and the black matter coming out of a baby, there is a lot to be scared of in this extra-grim version of the old fairy tale.

Lillis will play Gretel, and newcomer Samuel Leaky will play Gretel. Jessica de Gouw, Alice Krige, and Charles Babalola round out the cast.

Above you’ll find the new film poster, also released today alongside the official trailer. The poster shows Gretel wandering through the woods with the mysterious cabin behind her. Shoes can be spotted hanging from the trees along with pentagrams carved into the bark.

As is typical of this fairy tale, the film will follow siblings Hansel and Gretel as they journey into the woods and stumble upon a mysterious old house where a creepy old witch lives.

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In the original story, the witch’s house is made entirely out of candy. It’s unclear if that remains true in the film since the building looks more ghoulish and decrepit, no lollipops or gumdrops in sight, but Hansel does say it “smells of cake.” It does still look like it’s made of gingerbread, with window panes made of sugar glass.

Other differences include the witch having a name; in this version, she is called Holda. If you look carefully at the chimney, it billows red and black smoke. It’s not clear what that means but is likely an indication of Holda’s wickedness.

She also comments that she and Gretel share some similarities. Is it possible this version will contain a twist making Gretel and the witch related somehow?

Strangely, the witch’s house looks eerily similar to a certain yellow triangular building in Midsommar.

Watch the official trailer for the movie below:

Are you looking forward to seeing Gretel & Hansel in theaters? What did you think about the official trailer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Gretel & Hansel will release in theaters on January 31, 2020.