My Review of The Witch (2015)

 

Written And Directed by Robert Eggers

Black Phillip: "What dost thou want?"

Thomasin: "What canst thou give?"

Black Phillip: "Wouldst thou like the taste of butter? A pretty dress? Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"

Thomasin: "Yes."

Earlier in the year, I wrote a review for The Lighthouse and I plan to watch The Northman later this year. For the month of Halloween, I had to go with what is easily the best movie that writer/director Robert Eggers has made so far.

Set in 1630s New England, The Witch followed the story of a family banished from a Puritan settlement due to a religious dispute. The family in question then moved to a secluded forest and all their problems get that much worse.

The family containing feckless father, William (Ralph Ineson) and mother Katherine (Kate Dickie) along with oldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), twins Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and Jonas (Lucas Dawson) and baby son, Samuel. Together, the loss of Samuel starts to tear the family apart and quite quickly.

Especially as Katherine's anger at Thomasin over Samuel being taken by a witch (Bathsheba Garnett) and she spends most of the movie thinking the worst of Thomasin. When Caleb has his own encounter with a Witch resulting in his eventual death, Thomasin's the one who got blamed even though it was the twins who spent most of the movie communing with the Billy goat named Black Phillip (Daniel Malik).

As the movie progressed, Thomasin found herself falsely accused of witchcraft and was locked in the goats pen with Mercy and Jonas. The real Witch took them and then Thomasin became an orphan as both her parents were killed towards the end of the movie.

It's the actual ending that really captured the eeriness of the whole movie. Thomasin's entire family are gone and the temptation of butter and a pretty dress was enough to make her sign her name in that book. The last scene as Thomasin takes part in the Witches Sabbath does cap this film on a chilling note.

- The other title for this movie was The VVitch: A New England Tale.

- Hares have been seen as magical creatures in New England and black goats as related to the devil in Basque mythology.

- The language used by the witches at the end was Enochian. 

- Chronology: 1630s New England.

The Witch without a doubt might be one of the most unsettling horror films. It's unrelentingly bleak from start to finish with characters descending into madness and corruption. The ending, while chilling might also be one of the best ending in a horror movie. It was definitely a star making role for Anya Taylor-Joy. 

Rating: 10 out of 10