Gretchen is a 2006 film directed by Steve Collins, starring Courtney Davis as the title character. The film was Collins' first full-length feature and was based on his short film Gretchen & the Night Danger.
Gretchen Finkle (Courtney Davis) is a 17-year-old high school student with a romantic obsession over Ricky (John Merriman). Her mother (Becky Ann Baker) becomes so concerned about Gretchen's crush that she sends her daughter to an in-patient emotional therapy clinic.
Gretchen is a full-length adaptation of Steve Collins' 2004 short film Gretchen & the Night Danger, which won the Jury Award for Competition Shorts at South By Southwest.
Sky Hirschkron, writing for Stylus Magazine, stated, "Collins is perceptive to GretchenâÂÂs status as a loser; the problem is that he offers nothing to counterbalance it, resulting in a perspective inadvertently as cruel as her tormentors". Film Threats Don Lewis commented, "Gretchen is a really dry, funny and sad film [...] The bond between Gretchen and her mother is a sweet touch and without it, one might think Collins was cinematically abusing Gretchen just as everyone else does throughout the film."