Neil Jordan’s Psychological Thriller, Greta, Opens in Cinemas on 12 April
Posted: 16th April 2019
Academy Award® winner Neil Jordan’s latest feature, Greta, opens in Irish cinemas this Thursday, 18 April.
The psychological thriller is Jordan’s first feature in six years and boasts a diversely talented cast including Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert (Elle, Amour, The Piano Teacher), Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, Hugo, Carrie), Maika Monroe (It Follows), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game), Colm Feore (Chicago, Thor) and Zawe Ashton (Nocturnal Animals).
Frances, (Chloë Grace Moretz) a young woman, finds a handbag on the New York subway and promptly returns it to Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher. Having recently lost her mother, Frances strikes up a seemingly harmless friendship with the lonely and kindly Greta who is a widow herself. But when Greta's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic and obsessive, Frances does whatever it takes to end the toxic relationship before things spirals out of control.
Greta is co-written by Neil Jordan alongside Ray Wright. Jordan previously won an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay for the 1992 film The Crying Game, which he also directed. He has since wrote and directed acclaimed Irish classics such as Michael Collins and Breakfast on Pluto.
Jordan describes reading the original screenplay for Greta, "There was something intriguing about the original screenplay when I read it because it was almost entirely amongst three women. It's a story about possession: an almost romantic obsession that refuses to let go. The fact that the obsessional elements of the story are motivated by a woman appealed to me and that no males played a significant part in the story was intriguing."
Greta received its world debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018 and has since received praise from critics, including the Observer which hailed the film as a “nail-biter that sends ice down the spine and proves that in the hands of a master director, any genre is capable of achieving new heights of imagination.”
The film was shot primarily on location in Dublin and at Ardmore Studios, Bray, Co. Wicklow followed by a week in Toronto and New York.
Lead actress Isabelle Huppert describes her experience working in Ireland, "I love being in Dublin and working here at Ardmore Studios. There was a nice feeling of intimacy, which was welcome for this film….we are immersed in the making of the story."
Greta was produced by Sidney Kimmel, John Penotti, James Flynn, Lawrence Bender, Karen Richards for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Lawrence Bender Films and Little Wave Productions. The film was supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.