Sometimes The Best Horror Is Subtle

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2017)

While being touted as a "horror flick", "The Witch" only shares that designation in the sense that the events depicted within it can be quite unsettling. It is nowhere near, however, the type of movie that most theater-goers these days would consider "horror". It has nothing in common with, say, "Paranormal Activity", which uses jump-scares to produce its frights. No, "The Witch" is a much more subtle type of scary, the type that unspools with each minute as you begin to gain a deeper understanding of how colonial Americans dealt with such terror.
For a basic plot summary, "The Witch" tells the story of a family in 1630s New England. Father William (Ralph Ineson) has a major falling-out with the religious community in his village, forcing him to be excommunicated and banished to the wilderness lands where he must begin a new life with wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), prepubescent daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), well- meaning son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), as well as the young twins Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and Jonas (Lucas Dawson). There is also an infant boy in tow, who quickly disappears near the edge of the forest. The family suspects witchcraft, but is there really paranormal activity afoot? Also, suspicions are raised that perhaps Thomasin herself knows more than she is letting on.
There are many deep and interesting themes in "The Witch", which automatically make it quite a bit more sophisticated than most stock horror fare these days. One major theme is how big of a role religion plays in the life of the family. Despite (or perhaps because of?) their devout Christianity, the mother and father are quick to pin the blame on such a nebulous concept as witchcraft. In today's society, where religion is often more of a "commodity" to be used when needed, it is a very interesting history lesson, of sorts, to see how religion used to be a major part of every activity in a family's day-to-day life.
Another interesting theme centers on familial relationships. The mother and father are constantly at odds about how to live their lives, especially with Thomasin just coming into her womanhood and brother Caleb's not-so-subtle noticing of that very fact. Even the little twins, who seem as innocent as can be, manage to rile up a family goat (named "Black Phillip") and are quick to point fingers (as children are wont to do) at a sibling's transgressions. It's a potent family mix that only becomes more combustible when the overriding religious concepts are thrown into the fray.
Perhaps the strongest suit of "The Witch", however, is its simmering and building of tension. It's almost like a throwback to the Alfred Hitchcock style of directing, where the suspense is given more screen time than the "big reveal". Whereas horror fans are used to being jump-scared out of their seats, "The Witch" again and again takes you just to the point of terror and then backs off. It really is masterful directing from Robert Eggers.
Now, I won't get too spoiler-ish here, but the ending of the film is going to rub people the wrong way. What I will say, though, is that a key to understanding this movie is to realize that it was constructed from the actual journals, writings, and other documents of New Englanders from that time period. It tries to be as authentic as possible in that vein, which obviously makes it difficult to construct a narrative around which contemporary audiences will understand and appreciate. Eggers does the best he can in doing this, but this requires the ending to be more "oblique" than "final". After some reflection and thought, I was okay with how it ended.
So, I think that those two words--"reflection" & "thought"--really are the key to appreciating "The Witch". If you are expecting one of those movies where every few minutes the tension builds and something jumps out, you'll likely leave disappointed. Instead, in typical A24 production company fashion, the real horror of "The Witch" probably comes as much after you leave the theater and begin to process what you just saw. The combination of fanatical religion, 1600s family dynamics, and the ever-potential presence of the supernatural will give you plenty to think about for days afterward.