All language subtitles for Gretel.and.Hansel.2020.PROPER.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

WITCH: Come, children,
and listen,

for the story I tell
holds a lesson.

A lesson that might one day
keep you safe.

So, gather in close
and hear me well.

It's the story
of the Beautiful Child

with the little pink cap.

Her birth was a gift
to her mother and father

in a time of great suffering and famine.

All in the village agreed

she was
the most beautiful child.

But an illness fell upon her,

and it was predicted

that her first winter
would be her last.

Her father was not one to take such tidings passively,

and whispers
told of an enchantress

with the power
to cure any ailment.

All that was required was for her father to be brave

and to trust the darkness.

And he was,

and he did.

But when that enchantress
took away the illness,

she left in its place a gift.

It came to be that the child had been granted Second Sight.

Everyone thought they wanted her to read their futures,

but then no one wanted to hear what she saw.

For it is only the bitter end

that comes for everyone,
anyway.

And she herself
made sure of that.

For it was soon clear...

[HORSE GROANS]

...that she was powerful
in other ways, too.

[METAL CLANGING]

It seemed
she would spare no one.

Not even her own father,

who, for her,
had sacrificed so much.

[HORSE WHINNIES]

And so, it was ordered

that the child be returned to the darkness that made her.

She was hidden away,
deep in the woods,

all alone,

with no one to play with.

But still, she had her own way

of making friends.

So, children, please,
beware of gifts.

Beware of those
that offer them.

And beware of those who are only too happy to take them.

GRETEL: Fairy tales have a funny way

of getting into your head.

I don't remember where I was, or when,

that I first heard the story

of the Beautiful Child
in her little pink cap.

Just feels like
I've always known it.

I wonder how someone gets

their own fairy tale
told about them.

And if I'd even want that.

You have to go through
a lot of terrible trouble.

Then most the time,
some prince appears

and wakes you up anyway.

But I don't see
any princes around here.

There's only
my little brother.

He follows me wherever I go,

and I have to share
everything with him.

But at least he's mine.

Why are you wearing that?

I'm going to meet
with John Stripp.

And his wife, if he has one.

Mother imagines
he needs a housekeeper.

But why are your lips
so strangely colored?

[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]

[METAL CLANGING IN DISTANCE]

Okay.

If I should ever see
so much as a crumb of cake,

you'll be the first to know.

Okay? [SNORTS]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

MASTER STRIPP: Do you read?

Uh... No. Though,
I am able to bake and launder.

Your father was a farmer, yes?

GRETEL: Was, yes.

He's gone ahead to his reward.

Uh, Mother's alone now,
and does what she can.

I should think
she can do precious little

till this terrible pestilence
is lifted.

Some say the lands are cursed.

MASTER STRIPP: Only with
the incompetence of men,

as so much of everything is.

And really, it's the whole
system that's so absurd.

I mean, senselessly,
we owe crop to some bishop,

and we're not even permitted
to feed our own...

You will do well to limit
the number of words

that come out of your mouth.

Yes, sir.

Do something nice for
a poor, old man, won't you?

Try saying "milord" instead.

Yes...

milord.

That's a good girl.

I think you'll find
our guests will prefer it.

Now, I have something
to ask you.

Have you kept your maidenhood?

I beg your pardon?

You may beg all you want,

but my question remains.

Are you...

intact?

[THUNDER CRASHES]

GRETEL: What if I had reached
across and slapped him?

Would my palm
have stung with pride?

Would I have felt nothing?

MOTHER: Would it have killed
you to smile at the man?

To just say "thank you"?

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

He didn't need a housekeeper.

You can't stay here, Gretel.

GRETEL: Why not?

Because there isn't
enough room.

This place is too crowded
with ghosts.

Hungry ghosts,

of everything now gone.

Your father's
sits right there.

And mine will be here
soon enough.

You shouldn't talk like that.

You'll take your brother,
and make haste to the convent.

Throw yourself
at the boots of the sisters,

and pray they take you in.

Hansel will never be offered
admittance at a convent.

And I would never ask
to be admitted.

Then the two of you
can start work

digging your sweet,
little graves.

[SIGHS]

Gretel.

When you and your brother
take up your shovels...

dig a hole for Mommy, too.

[MOTHER SNORTS]

[SCREAMING] Be gone!

[GASPS]

Or I'll hack you into tiny,
little pieces.

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

GRETEL: I pulled my brother
from his bed,

and together, we fled the only home we'd ever known.

The door slammed at our backs,

and the big, bad world
opened up in front of us...

like a terrible mouth.

Hmm. You ought to have gone
with the man in the house.

Quiet about things
you don't know.

Why do you always do that?

I don't always do anything.
I'm not a clock.

You make trouble.

You would've had
your own room.

You would've seen a crumb
of cake sooner or later.

Nothing is given
without something else

being taken away.

When can we go back to Mother?

Remember the widow, Hayes,

who used to give Father eggs
before her chickens got sick?

She lives just up ahead.

Perhaps she can give us a bed.

How do your eyes see that far?

I don't have to see things
to know that they're there.

HANSEL: Are you sure
a woman lives here?

GRETEL: I'm sure a woman
used to live here.

HANSEL: Doesn't smell
like a woman lives here.

GRETEL: Quiet.

And be glad for the roof
over our heads.

Well, not exactly
an iron maiden.

Come on, then.

HANSEL: You think
Mother's all right?

GRETEL:
I think she's all right

as long as we're all right.

Gretel,

will we be all right?

If I've got a voice
in the matter.

[SHUDDERING]

[SCREAMING]

[MAN GRUNTING]

Brother!

HANSEL: Gretel! Help!
Get it off me!

-GRETEL: Hey!
-[MAN SNARLING]

[SCREECHES]

[GROWLING]

Oh, but not really.

[SCREAMING]

-[ARROW WHIZZES]
-[GRETEL GASPS]

THE HUNTER: You've been turned
out of your home, I'll wager.

Set out to fend for yourselves

with only your clothes
and your hides,

which aren't much.

HANSEL: I have an axe.

Oh.

I must say, it hides very well
in your shadow, young man.

I mean I have an axe at home.
[SIGHS]

Be quiet.

THE HUNTER: I'll be happy
to direct you to foresters.

Good people.

Plentiful coin.
Food, if you can earn it.

They will hand you a new axe,

and show you
how to make it work like one.

You, girl,

will learn the ways
of the herbs and the earth.

Lest the men of the world find
a more obvious use for you.

Pray, sir, what might we offer
you in return for the meal?

I mean, you would've eaten it
if not for us.

I don't have
a taste for rabbit.

What do you
want from us, then?

You have nothing
I need or want.

"For kindness
is its own reward.

"But cruelty
is a self-inflicted wound.

"The wicked earn a living
by deception,

"but the one who plants
righteousness

"gathers a true harvest.

"Indeed, those who do
what is right

"will live a good life.

"Those who pursue evil
will die."

But everyone dies.

Indeed. But not right now.

Take your fill, and perhaps

you'll allow me
to draw you each a bath.

The boy here is so filthy,

he could pass for compost

if it not for the whites
in his eyes.

[THE HUNTER CHUCKLES]

GRETEL: Is it safe
to trust someone

who appears exactly
when you need them?

Or does it feel too much like they've been lying in wait,

coiled like a serpent?

THE HUNTER: Keep west
for two full days and nights.

Keep to the path
I've drawn for you,

and you'll find
what you're looking for.

Stray from it, and you can
expect to meet wolves.

And if you do,
don't stop to talk to them.

They're very charming
and handsome,

but make terrible
conversation.

HANSEL: Why couldn't we stay

where we were
with the huntsman?

GRETEL:
If he'd wanted children,

I suspect he would've made
some of his own.

HANSEL: "Made" them?
Out of what?

Must I explain
all of everything?

HANSEL:
But Mother didn't make us.

We was brought in
through her window by birds.

You're right, Hansel.

What a fool I've been
all this time.

All finished?

Yes, and I'm still hungry.

Only the natural result
of eating so much.

Oh.

Do you remember Father
very much?

No, not very much.

Tell me the fairy tale again.

The one about
the Beautiful Child

with the little pink--

Not right now.

It's too scary,
and you'll start

seeing things
that aren't there.

Some things that probably are.

It isn't scary for me.

And it helps me go to bed.

Gretel, I'm scared.

GRETEL: [SOFTLY] There's
nothing and nobody out there.

BEAUTIFUL CHILD:
[WHISPERS] Gretel.

[CROW CAWING]

GRETEL: I always try
to tell my mother

that I can see things,

like I was dreaming
when I was awake.

But she always told me
to keep it to myself,

and that little girls
should never...

[WOOD CLUNKING IN DISTANCE]

What in hell are you doing?

Practicing for when
we meet the foresters.

And you said "hell."

Hey!

All this practice is making
an unnecessary racket!

I'm sorry.

I'm hungry.

I'm hungrier than you are.

Because you're a pig.

-You're a bigger pig.
-[GRETEL CHUCKLES]

You're right. I am.

[BOTH SNORTING]

HANSEL: When do we eat again?

[STOMACH GROWLING]

[ECHOES] Gretel?

Gretel, I'm starving.

HANSEL: Looks like a mushroom.

GRETEL: Yes.
But they're as different

from one another
as people are.

This one might be unfriendly.

How to tell?

Suppose we might ask them.

Well, anyhow, here we all are

and pleased
to make your acquaintance.

We've been without food
for too long now.

And to be completely frankly
honest and open about it,

we were thinking of,

very seriously,
of supping, well,

on you.

So tell me if you will,
strange little things,

are you kind, or no?

What did it say?

Strange as it might be,
I think she said, "Eat me."

[STOMACH RUMBLING]

[LAUGHING]

[DISTORTED LAUGHTER]

BEAUTIFUL CHILD: Follow me.

[HORSE WHINNIES]

Come and find me.

Follow me, sister.

HANSEL: Gretel,

is that there?

GRETEL: If it isn't,
neither are we.

Do you smell that?

Gretel, it smells of cake!

Hey.

HANSEL: Let go of me!

Gretel, it smells of cake,

and I'm unable to resist.

Gretel, I need food.

GRETEL:
Stay where I can see you.

HANSEL: They have a slide.

GRETEL: Yet I don't see
any children.

It also smells of bacon,
you know.

HANSEL: Look in through
the window or something.

Well?

What is there?

Only heaven.

HANSEL: What?

Gretel, look and see!

Hansel.

Brother!

You must be the sister
I've heard so much about.

Careful with that, dear.

I'd hate for you to start
something you can't stop.

We never intended
to steal from you, missus.

"Missus"? Think I'm married?

See you a ball and chain
at my heel?

But tell me how you came to be
in my woods,

and so charmingly
unchaperoned.

Our mother
has come upon hardship.

Usually the first thing
a mother comes upon.

My sister won't go
to the convent.

Be quiet.

WITCH: I very much doubt
that a convent is the place

for a girl with action
in her bones,

even if there's hardly any
meat on those action bones.

Aren't you expecting guests?

Guests?
I'd rather have roaches.

Just checking,

to be sure you're not
crawling with louses

before you put your heads
on any pillows of mine.

Ouch!

[SNIFFS]

You're clean enough.

Now, eat.

And rest.

Beds have already
been made up for you.

Thank you.

But really,

we'll stop briefly
but we must be on our way.

WITCH: Milk,

good for bones.

A hair here, a hair there.

[CAT PURRING]

[SIGHS] My eyes too big
for my stomach, obviously.

And your mouth is too big
for your mouth, obviously.

[STOMACH RUMBLING]

[OWL HOOTING]

[INDISTINCT WHISPERING]

[DISTORTED VOICES]

[WOOD CLUNKING]

BEAUTIFUL CHILD: [WHISPERING]
My mother, she killed me.

My mother, she ate me.

Oh, what a pretty bird am I.

Oh, what a pretty bird am I.

Oh, what a pretty bird am I.

CHILDREN: No!

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

WITCH: Your breakfast.

No morning beasts for you,
my pretty?

Oh, no, thank you, ma'am.

She can keep
all the world's vegetables,

while I eat only meat
and grow strong like an ox.

She'll grow strong enough.

Just as the ox, with his
vegetable-made bones,

pulls the cart and the fat man
who sits atop it.

[POT SHATTERS]

Well, another one
bites the dust. [CHUCKLES]

May I not help you with that?

What's this, dear?

Only to say surely in exchange
for your generosity,

I might offer to be the one

out of the two of us
to get down on the ground.

Now, that's a new idea.

I can bake and launder,

uh, turn down beds,

or tend to any, um, animals
that might need tending.

And I can chop wood.

-He can learn.
-Well, I could.

Typically I'm not in the habit
of employing children,

but in this case
it does seem a fair trade.

Only until we set off again

to find a thing
more permanent.

We'll be working
with the foresters soon.

Well, it's beginning to appear

the foresters
will have to wait a while.

Finders keepers.

WITCH: The sliding door
to your right.

Lyes and vinegars
on that shelf.

Soap from animal fat,
just there.

And the blade high like this,

then lay it down easy.

Very good.

Once you've gotten
the hang of it,

you can move on
to the others in the shed.

My, my. Aren't you handsome.

[SNEEZES]

WITCH: Nothing to sneeze at.

Even with the heat
of your blushing,

you have the onset of a chill.

Here,
let me show you something.

Licorice root,
garlic, calendula,

usnealichen,
yarrow flower, milkvetch,

and finally, cat's claw.

Ah.

Here.

What?

You drink it.

[HESITATES] Oh, I don't...

Tomorrow you will be
a new girl.

If not tomorrow,
then soon enough.

In any case, you will
have taken a first step.

The foul smell
is only an ugly gatekeeper

in front of
the palace of wonders.

Stop with him at the gates,
or see what goes on inside.

[GRUNTING]

You're coming with me!

[PANTS]

Idiot trees.

[SIGHS]

WITCH:
You'll get the hang of it.

Always remember,

the king is afraid,
and he should be.

Because the queen can do
whatever she wants.

Gretel,

it's naked.

GRETEL: Your go.

-There's a storm coming.
-HANSEL: There isn't.

Be quiet.

HANSEL: I was out all day.

I know what rain clouds
look like, and there was none.

In any case,

I brought your axe in for you
just to be safe.

How'd you know?

Because women
often know things

they're not supposed to.

Don't we, Gretel?

HANSEL: Gretel's not a woman.

Oh, no? And if not?

What?

Is she a snake? A frog?

A pig?

[SNORTING]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

[RAIN PATTERING]

[THUNDER CRASHES]

[RAIN PATTERING]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

[GRETEL SIGHS]

[DOOR SLIDES]

[CHILD GIGGLES]

CHILD: [WHISPERS]
Don't look at us.

Don't look at us here.

Down in our hole
in the ground.

We've gotten old down here.

Don't look at us.

[ECHOES]
Don't look at us here.

Down in the ground.

We've gotten old down here.

Don't look at us.

Don't look at us.

Don't look at us.

[CHILD CRYING
ECHOES IN DISTANCE]

[CHILDREN GIGGLING]

GRETEL: Were the dreams
I was having

only the result of too much
rich food before bed?

Were they a message?

A warning?

Was I now missing a chance
to listen to myself?

[KNOCKING ECHOES]

[CAT YOWLING]

GRETEL: Hey.

We'd be wise to leave
before outstaying our welcome.

What?

Leave?

Yes.

And continue on
to the foresters,

like we said we would.

We've found work
to be done here.

You probably noticed the food.

There's something wrong here.

But it's so pleasant.

But tell me what hides
behind that pleasantness.

There are things here,
bad things.

What bad things?

The abundance, for one.

What's that mean?

It means "too much."

There's too much,
and it isn't right.

Where are the animals?

From where does she draw milk?

From where does she conjure up
her endless parade of cakes?

There are souls trapped
in this house, or under it.

But why do you
always see a problem?

Something behind or under?
Something hidden?

Because the big,
bad world is what it is.

We're safe now from the world.
Isn't that what you want?

Perhaps tomorrow
you can send me for supplies.

Mother says I have an eye
for good produce.

WITCH:
That won't be necessary.

Plums only keep for three days
out of season.

And that ham is unsalted.
It must be going bad.

And yet, it isn't.

[THUDS]

Yes!

[CHILD WHISPERING
INDISTINCTLY]

[TREES CREAKING]

[CHILDREN SCREAMING ECHOES]

[CHILD CONTINUES WHISPERING]

CHILD: Hansel, Gretel.

[GASPS]

Come across an old one,
have you?

One that's had
too much to drink.

You'll find another
in the cupboard in the hall.

Towards the back.

When you've found it,
let me show you something.

WITCH: The thought in your head is,

"Go look in the shed."

You'll find saws
to be sharpened

for the bones of the dead.

The thought in your head is, "Go look in the shed."

You'll find saws
to be sharpened

for the bones of the dead.

What eats with its teeth,
but never feels fed?

[DOOR CREAKING]

Are you having dreams?

On some nights.

On some nights,
I don't sleep at all.

WITCH: Awake,

listening to the woods?

Good.

The air is swirling
with abundance.

One need only reach out
and pluck it.

This is your power,

to see what is hidden
and to take it.

A small mind believes
only what it can see.

Carves out a little square,

waits to be taken,

never wondering
what governs its fate.

But we know that we are our
fate's own masters, don't we?

Those like me
and those like you,

we commune
with the Great Provider.

She gives us
the seeds of abundance,

and we grow them
in our garden.

We harvest it, and with it,

we impart justice.

You say "we," but I've not
agreed to anything.

It's not for you to agree
or disagree, my pretty.

It's already inside of you.

You can either
stay asleep to it...

or let it wake up.

[STAFF THUDS]

Now,

the salve.

I see it likes you.

[CHUCKLES]

[THUDS]

Now, tell it what to do.

"Tell it"?

You've talked to things
before. I know you have.

What can it do?

It can do more than just
lie there like spilled milk.

[WITCH GASPS]

You decided to wake it up,
after all.

But how did it...

WITCH: Think less, my pretty,
and know more.

Go ahead.

It awaits its master.

WITCH: The bones of the dead.

The bones of the dead.

The bones of the dead.

[BRANCHES RUSTLING]

[TREES CREAKING, RUSTLING]

[TREE CREAKING]

[CREAKING CONTINUES]

[CREAKING LOUDLY]

[CREAKING CONTINUES]

WITCH: Have another bite,
won't you?

-[FLY BUZZING]
-I don't want another bite.

Even if it bit me,
I wouldn't bite it back.

But it's your favorite,
my little champion.

I even stuffed the crust.

HANSEL: And it'll be here
again tomorrow,

as sure as the sun,

and with even less
explanation.

Quiet. You're being rude.

Now bite your tongue
and eat your food.

[FLY BUZZING]

HANSEL: What do you do
with her all day?

She teaches me.

Things that could
save my life,

that could make my life.

She's not our mother,
you know.

It's true, she isn't.

She has much to give.

You wouldn't understand.
There are many gifts here.

You always say there aren't
any gifts in this world.

That nothing is given
without something taken away.

So, tell me this,

what is she taking?

I'm scared now,

and I want to go home.

I wanna see Mother.

We both know
there's nothing there.

But gifts?

Are you forgetting?

Forgetting to be
afraid of gifts?

I'm not.

What about the story?

"Once upon a time,
a girl was born."

It's not like that.

But "all in the village agreed

"that she was the most
beautiful child."

You'd do well
to shut your mouth.

"It came to be that she was
touched with the gift of--"

[HANSEL GASPS]

Fall quiet, boy.

For I shall write
my own story.

Gretel.

You wanna leave?

Let me show you how.

Gretel! Don't leave me!

Gretel!

BEAUTIFUL CHILD: [WHISPERS]
Follow me.

[BREATHING SHAKILY]

GRETEL: Surely, that had
only been a nightmare.

The desire to be rid of him
was very real.

But to send him off alone
into the night,

that could never be true.

[WHISPERS] Hansel?

[WOLF HOWLING IN DISTANCE]

He's out sulking,

blaming the strength
of the trees

for his own weakness.

He's a little boy.

Even the littlest pebble
makes it difficult to travel

once it gets its way
into your boot.

You've taken him on
as a burden.

But last night
you shrugged it off.

Did I?

Didn't you?

You're not his mother.

And still, you don't remember

the last time
you couldn't be sure

of where your little boy
could be.

He shouldn't be off
on his own.

Maybe not.

But you definitely should be.

I ought to go to bed,

to be up with the sun
to search for my brother.

An excellent plan.

But I do fear
a restless night ahead.

Might you prepare for me
something to help me sleep?

I'll fix you a sleeper.
She always does the trick.

You'll sleep like a baby...

If the baby has just got into
her mother's sleepers.

Yes.

Thank you.

WITCH: Careful
with a sleeping draft.

A leaf or a twig
this way or that,

you get a very
different mixture.

A soup of nightmares.

Well, good night, then.

[RETCHING]

[COUGHING]

[GRETEL SNORTS]

Come on now.
This is no place for you.

Come now and look at me.

[LIQUID POURING]

[BLOWS AIR]

[CHILDREN WAILING]

[FLESH SQUELCHING]

GRETEL:
It didn't matter anymore

if I dreamt it
or really lived it.

The horror of what I had seen under the house

was proof
of what I already knew.

All I could do now was
keep calm and play dumb,

only for long enough
to outsmart her.

WITCH: Disturbing night,
was it not?

Did you feel the wind
coming down from the hills

rattling all the windows
facing east?

I suppose I didn't.

Desired result of
my sleeping draft, I'm sure.

You saw there's fresh milk?

I saw.

Yum.

Any sign
of our little runaway?

No, none.

Well, I'll keep a nose
and an ear out.

You're going somewhere?

It's not regular
that nature calls out to me,

but when she does,
I try to answer.

Mind the kettle, would you?

Fix me a cup of tea
for when I'm back.

That'd be nice.

And leave the food out.

Maybe I'll want
to bite something later.

[RETCHING]

CHILDREN:
Bless the day if you dare

to desire to be born again.

[DOOR SLIDES OPEN]

WITCH: I've been thinking,

maybe it's for the best
that Hansel isn't with us.

Isn't?

He'll soon come to fear you,

as all men should
if they're smart.

And fear so easily
turns to hatred.

Better that he remember you
as you were,

rather than
as you're meant to be.

With all that
you're showing me,

will I one day
be very powerful?

You will be.

Will I have mastery
and dominion over everything?

WITCH: Nearly everything.

We must accept our weaknesses.

Have you one? A vulnerability?

Only that which has taken
a part of me.

Only that which has taken
a part of you.

And to you
it will be a poison.

And so you must consume it,

lest it consume you first.

Consume poison?

How else will one
develop an immunity?

But the thing about poison

is that out of everything
in the big, bad world,

nothing tastes as sweet.

What did you do
with my brother?

I am only moving him
out of your way.

He's all I have in this world.

Say that again and I will turn
your tongue into a flower,

to remind you
of how pretty and dumb,

temporary,
you've chosen to be.

Or you may follow the path
that I've lit for you.

Do whatever you want with me,

but only if you free him.

I could never do that.

GRETEL: But why not?

Because that little boy
is your poison.

All that is left
is to make him delicious.

You can't.

My dear,

I can't remember a time

when there was anything else
I cared to do.

I envy you,

standing at the threshold
of your own experience,

with everything ahead of you.

To be young again.

[INHALES DEEPLY]

A nice balance.

I admire the application.

But more than anything

it leaves me curious
as to why,

why you would try
to put me to sleep

when there is so much
to be done.

I won't do
what you want me to do.

I'm nothing like you.

We are made
from the same matter,

the same filth.

Otherwise,
how would you know my story

without me
having to tell it to you?

Your story?

We were given the same gift,

the same magic...

just as she was,

with her little pink cap.

How do you know my s...

[SNAPS FINGERS]

WITCH: I know
that's your favorite story,

but you have been
telling it wrong.

It's true,

she was
a most beautiful child,

and everyone could see that.

But on the inside,

she was rotten to her core

and as sweet as vinegar.

Even I hated her,

and I was her mother.

[METAL CLANGING]

Because from me,
she took everything.

And would have
destroyed me too,

if I didn't
get rid of her first.

So I gave her back
to the darkness

that had made her,

and thought that would be
the end of it.

But I was wrong.

She stayed with me.

In my thoughts, in my dreams, attached to me like my shadow,

promising me a taste
of the powers that she had.

All that was required
was for me to be brave

and to trust the darkness.

And I was,

and I did.

And like she had done,

I rid myself
of all other attachments.

I cleared my plate.

I ate my children.

So hungry was I to realize
my own powers,

I hardly even chewed.

I assumed
a disguise of old age

to make myself
seem kind and weak.

I built for us a house,

one with a proper kitchen
and a dining room.

[GASPING]

[ECHOES] I could name them
all if ever I had to.

There was
a Thomas and an Isabella,

a darling William

and a precious Elizabeth,

a Harry and a Sarah,

a Paul, a Kate.

And now, just for you,

a Hansel.

Only rid yourself of him
and embrace your powers.

Such a sweet boy.

Sweet and plump, and fair.

Where is he?

Where is my brother?

WITCH: So stay a while,
won't you?

Who knows,
you might even enjoy it.

[FIRE ROARING]

I only hope you're hungry.

[THUDS]

Bedtime for you,

little darling.

Go and kiss
your sister good night.

Brother, hear me.

I know you're in there.
I'm going to get you out.

Even though you are blinded,
you'll see my face again.

That is my
forever promise to you.

[GRETEL SNORTS]

YOUNG WITCH: That's enough.

Now up to bed.

There's a good boy.

What a world.

[YOUNG WITCH GRUNTING]

Hansel, hold!

[SCREAMING]

[YOUNG WITCH SCREAMING]

Hansel!

[GRUNTS]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[CAT PURRING]

Gretel.

Quiet now.

You're all right.

And you will be, just as long
as I got a voice in it.

But what about her?

She doesn't live here anymore.

Gretel, you're scared.

What of?

Of the world?

No...

only of myself.

You will always have
a part of me, brother.

A part of myself
that you have not taken,

but that I have
given to you gladly.

It will go with you
when you leave.

When I leave?

Without you?

GRETEL: Yes.

The single story that
we shared now splits in two,

and we take forking paths.

Yours will lead you
to what you need to find.

Mine will carry me up.

I told him
to take good care of you.

He'll see to it
that you arrive safely.

Gretel,
you'll see my face again.

But anyway,
where is he taking me?

GRETEL: Letting him go
wasn't hard to do.

If he's going to find his way,

I can't very well be
standing in it,

just as he shouldn't
stand in mine.

I could see she was right
about that at least.

Let him find his own story,

and his own courage
to live it...

...just as I now
go on to live mine.

I have my own power
to nurture.

I'll help it to grow,

and trust that I'll know
what to do with it.

I know
that the choice is mine.

I could feed it darkness,
or give it plenty of light.

I looked, and I saw,

and I understood.

The captor now gone
and her fires all put out,

they were free to go...

and be at peace.

And I was free.

To go and never look back,

or stay to build something new

on top of everything
that had been destroyed.

I knew my path
would reveal itself,

and that all was required
for me was to be brave

and to trust myself.

And I am brave.

And I will trust myself.