Canadian Film Festival: H & G Review

H & G (2013)

Cast: Breazy Diduck-Wilson, Annika Elyse Irving, Ashley Rebecca Moore
Director: Danishka Esterhazy
Country: Canada
Genre: Drama
Official Site: Here

Editor’s Note: The following review is part of our coverage of the 2014 Canadian Film Festival. For more information visit their official site.

Anyone who has ever studied English Literature or Media Studies will have encountered the idea that there are only 7 archetypal stories – such as Overcoming The Monster, The Quest or The Tragedy. A huge number of films and narratives are also derived from classic fairy tales and myths, but this is usually implicit or unintentional.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that hiding a classic narrative within a modern plot is normally more creative that an overt remake. However a new film from Danishka Esterhazy bucks this trend with truly disturbing results.

Sometimes a film tries to explicitly update ancient stories. This can be clever and covert like O Brother Where Art Thou? (Homer’s Odyssey) or Terminator 2 (Rumplestiltskin); or really contrived like Brother’s Grimm. Conventional wisdom would suggest that hiding a classic narrative within a modern plot is normally more creative that an overt remake. However a new film from Danishka Esterhazy bucks this trend with truly disturbing results.

H & G tells the story of Harley and Gemma, the two children of Krystaal, a young and immature mother who is more interested in clubbing and finding men than really looking after them. One night she meets a man called Gary and tries to introduce him to the kids as her ‘new friend’.

After seeing each other for a while they decide to go to a house party, with the intention of dropping the children off at a babysitter on the way. When this falls through Gary insists that the kids stay in the car as they go in to the party – only for them to forget that they are there when they reemerge hours later drunk and arguing. They drive off until Gary decides to kick Krystaal out of the car, not realizing that H & G are still inside. When it dawns on him, he freaks out and drives off without them leaving them in the forest alone with only a solitary house that they can turn to…

The film is told entirely from the children’s point of view so it is always unclear of the intentions of the adults, which makes it all the more harrowing and disturbing.

The obvious parallels with Hansel & Gretel are openly presented, except that instead of a witch they instead encounter a lonely and simple farmer who takes an unusual interest in Harley.

The film is told entirely from the children’s point of view so it is always unclear of the intentions of the adults, which makes it all the more harrowing and disturbing. Gemma has had to learn to look after her young brother on her own and hide him from the mysterious and unpredictable behavior of grown ups (who drink and do drugs)

All of the (young) adults in the film are presented as immature, irresponsible and threatening. They have all been failed by their baby-boomer parents and in turn are ruining the childhoods of their children. It is a damning indictment of shallow vanity and drug culture, updating a classical tale about children to highlight the narcissism and threatening nature of adults…

[notification type=”star”]74/100 ~ GOOD. H & G is a damning indictment of shallow vanity and drug culture, updating a classical tale about children to highlight the narcissism and threatening nature of adults. [/notification]

About Author

Ollie England

I'm a film and culture graduate, movie blogger and media teacher in the south of the UK. I love everything to do with politics, dystopias and the apocalypse - but I'm a pretty cheery guy...