The Witch

This movie is differently good! It's like a fucking new genre!! A little spoiler* It is not scary, the thematic content is!

Could not keep my attention

quase 3 anos depois e esse filme continua sendo o meu preferido de terror

As I’ve gotten older, I find that it’s harder for movies to scare me. It’s natural, especially after you spend significant amounts of time trying to analyze films, there’s a certain separation that can emerge, a sense in which you appreciate how well designed that monster is or how unexpected that knife slash was or how intricate that big evil trap is, but it doesn’t reach out and grab you the way it might have when you were a kid.

But what still scares me, what still gives me goose bumps and sends that tingle up my spine, is mood and atmosphere. I’m less apt to be rattled by the boogeyman jumping out of the closet or the murder emerging than I am when a film creates a supreme sense of foreboding, of something in the air that is amiss that no one can quite put their finger on. *The Witch* (or *The VVitch* if you’re a stickler for typeface) has some truly disturbing set pieces, and each of them is incredibly well-executed, but what makes it the scariest film I’ve seen in years is the way it creates that palpable mood of unease even when nothing particularly frightening is going on
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In that vein, the film that it reminds me of most is *Rosemary’s Baby*. Both films are very deliberately paced, foster a sense of paranoia in its characters, and build an unnerving atmosphere that chills you before the real fireworks begin. *The Witch* delves a little more into the overtly supernatural, but it feels of a piece with its disturbing predecessor in how it’s understated for much of its run, and draws out the most horror from the reactions of its characters.

Those reactions are what elevate *The Witch* from being a well-shot, well-designed film and turn into something truly chilling. At its core, the film is a psychodrama, focused on a family pointing their fingers at one another when horrible things start happening. The scene where the youngest child of the family disappears suddenly, and we see glimpses of him being prepared by some mysterious figure is upsetting, but what is even more disturbing are the recriminations and blame that follow and grow as more such events take place as the movie unspools.

Blame and guilt permeate the film. Thomasin, the eldest daughter and protagonist, is blamed by her mother and chided by her twin siblings. Caleb, the eldest son, deals with the guilt and fear of original sin, for the concerns that if he dies he will go to hell because he is stained by sin. William, the patriarch of the family, blames himself for leading this wife and children to these cursed lands.

And the lands truly seem cursed. The other film that comes to mind in the midst of *The Witch*, particularly in the midst of its lovingly-crafted, haunting images, is *Winter’s Bone*. The setting of the film becomes as much a part of creating that chilling mood, of making you feel like this family is isolated in a place too far away from help, and too barren to be a place of any hope. As in *Winter’s Bone*, the film is set in an area of desolation, thoroughly immersed in bleak gray, to where the setting feels truly forsaken by God.

That too is an important thematic touch in the film. There is a great deal of religious imagery in the film and references to the stain of original sin. From seemingly impossible apples to goats that evoke depictions of The Devil, to the frequent concerns over whether the departed are in Heaven or Hell, there is a religious bent before the supernatural ever comes into play.

[spoiler]That religious bent is the undercurrent behind mother turning against daughter, sibling turning against sibling, family turning against family. The paranoia sets in; the accusations fly; people are boarded up, die mysteriously, and think each of them is the cause. The titular witch of the film is truly frightening, made up to be equally grotesque and luring at different points of the film, an unseen, bizarre, almost alien force that inflicts its will on this family. And the contortions of Caleb as he’s under her spell are the peak of the film’s overt and unnerving scares. But what’s even more frightening is the effect that this haunting has on the family, to where they are torn apart, tortured even, long before the devil tightens his grip around their necks.

In the end, Thomasin is left with nothing. The rest of her family has either been killed by the witch or killed one another. So Thomasin, who strove to be good and to be morally right, finds herself bereft of everything, bereft of everyone, tired of resisting. She asks Black Phillip if he is what they said he was, if he is the devil. He offers her a chance to escape, a chance to have pretty things and luxuries, and as she wanders out to a coven dancing by the firelight, she rises, and it’s clear she’s accepted.

Maybe this was his plan all along. Maybe he wanted another witch, and the only way he was going to find one was to strip her of everything else in her life, leave her without parents, without siblings, morally and spiritually bereft, to where any option besides where she is now seems like an alternative, like something to take her away from all of this.

Who wouldn’t want to escape? From having to see your brother convulse like a child possessed and laugh like a madman, from watching your father lament everything and meet his untimely end at the hands of the devil, from having your mother attempt to strangle you and be forced to kill you. These moments are each horrifying in their own way, the horror that comes from a family falling apart in the most drastic and gruesome terms.

But where *The Witch* truly succeeds, and what sets it apart from its horror brethren, is the desolate setting, the delicate-yet-forceful cinematography and images, verisimilitude of the production design, and above all else, the psychological horror of these people knowing something is wrong, ensconced in a futile struggle to fix it, and practically eating each other in the process, until all that’s left is a young woman with nothing left.[/spoiler]

"The Witch" is a fantastic period piece. Part fable, part fairy tale, and all atmospheric Horror. I say Horror because that's the genre this film is being dumped into but it's not really that scary. It was all mood, conflict, and suspense, which was awesome. There are no cheap jump scares.

The acting was great and it looked beautiful, though accurately drab. There are some disturbing scenes of atypical gore but thankfully, the director cut away from the violence at just the right time, which made my imagination fill in the blanks.

Again, the sets and dialogue make this film seem like it must be a very accurate reproduction of Puritans or Separatists life in the early 1700's.

hearing thee and thy made me chuckle. i forget that they used to talk like that.

81 I Humans need some kind of guidance to serve their purpose in life. They have the freedom to choose their belief but they cannot tell which one is the right path, only their heart and a bit of hunch could decide it. When they feel it is right to follow that path, they will follow it for the rest of their life. Anything except the path that they believe is darkness and sins. They see the light but they are also blinded by it.

The family on The Witch is moved to a land that they think is cursed after what happened to their baby. The Witch told that premise with such an explicit scene that could make us drop our jaws. The entire film would make us uncomfortable with the way they filmed it. The cinematography perfectly captured the situation in the olden days in England. In addition, the language used in this film is old so it feels like we are brought to the year 1600.

All of the cast in The Witch gives such amazing performances, even the young actors and actresses. Combined with the directorial by Robert Eggers, The Witch is a modern horror that redefines the horror genre. Almost every cinephile praised this film because of how good the art of it is. The imageries in this film are visceral with a lot of meaning and interpretation. Sometimes it looks too much because of how explicit it tried to tell the story.

The Witch is not a universal film, even for horror lovers. Because The Witch is not like most horror films which are heavy on jumpscare or loud music. The Witch more focuses on the dialogue and the interaction between characters. The conflict that revolves around the film is more like a drama genre. That's why some people who hope with some expectation could be disappointing watch this film. But for indie film lovers, guarantee they would love The Witch. The Witch probably does not get enough appreciation from general audiences who watch films for only entertainment. But it is pretty sure well accepted by people who also watch the film as art.

The Witch is a film that made Anya Taylor-Joy get recognition in the film industry. She incredibly gave a great performance as a daughter who was pressured by her own family. Her laugh and pain finished the film with horror and creepiness. She flies to the moon afterward, her career as well.

My Instagram: @moviemanner

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Rating: 80.88

Plot

P1: 1.5
P2: 0.9
P3: 1.5
P4: 1.8

Director: Robert Eggers

Favorite Characters

1.8: Caleb
1.7: Thomasin
1.6: Katherine
1.5: Mercy
1.4: William
1.3: Black Phillip

Character Score Meaning

0.0 - 0.1 - 0.2 - 0.3 - 0.4 : Terrible
0.5 - 0.6 - 0.7 - 0.8 : Bad
0.9 - 1.0 - 1.1 - 1.2 : Average
1.3 - 1.4 - 1.5 - 1.6 : Good
1.7 - 1.8 - 1.9 - 2.0 : Great

Visually stunning and impressive. A masterpiece that benefits from a slow storytelling style. Absolutely recommendable.

Interesting to see what some people think is horror or not horror...

The Witch is an absolutely _classic_ horror - like the very best of 70s Hammer, crossed with the mundane realism of contemporary mumblegore. It is slow, atmospheric and very, very creepy - with moments of imagery that stick in your mind a long time after. If you think that horror is Hostel or Final Destination, this may not be for you.