THE WITCH is One of the Best Horror Films in Recent Years

Rating: 9/10 (25 March 2017)

I love THE WITCH. The film is a period horror film from writer/director Robert Eggers, a man I'd never heard of but whose work I will be looking out for in the future. THE WITCH is haunting, methodical, suspenseful, and obsessed with detail. Listening to Eggers' commentary for the film, it's obvious the man has a fascination with early American life and their supernatural superstitions. It's no surprise. THE WITCH must've been a passion project brewing in his mind for a good while because he put every ounce of attention into it. It's the tale of a Puritan family in 1630's Massachusetts who are exiled from their community for the father's overbearing religious preachings that don't quite mesh with their own local beliefs. And so William (Ralph Ineson) and his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie) pack up their children and move out into the woods to start their own little farmstead. Flash forward to sometime later, the family has settled in and built a home, started a little farm, and have welcomed their fifth child. One afternoon, the infant Samuel disappears right out from under the nose of eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy). At the same time, the family crops are mysteriously dying and their animals aren't providing. The winter is approaching, their food is scarce, their youngest child is missing and presumed dead, and strange happenings lead to hushed accusations of witchcraft; there is something evil beyond the tree line and they start to fear a dark presence amongst them.
With little exception, everything in this movie works 100%. It really is one of the strongest horror films I've seen in years. I love that it doesn't have to rely on jump scares and gratuitous violence or gore. Don't get me wrong, it has those but it doesn't rely on them. When Samuel disappears mid-peek-a-boo, it's just as jarring as any jump scare and, while the family is ignorant of poor Samuel's ultimate fate, we the audience are privy to it and it'll make your skin crawl. Instead of slapping you across the face with horror clichés, THE WITCH builds a tension over the course of the movie. It starts with Samuel's disappearance. Then we see the family begin to buckle under the pressure. Poor Katherine is losing her mind in grief and the two youngest children, Jonas and Mercy, become increasingly more insufferable, teasing Thomasin that Black Peter (the family's black ram) speaks to them of her wickedness. Thomasin becomes a target for Katherine's angst and poor William, who hasn't had the greatest luck since moving his family to the middle of the woods to start a new life, is doing everything in his power to keep the peace. THE WITCH is just as much a psychological thriller as it is a traditional horror. These people are isolated from the rest of society and super religious; the idea that someone in their little family might be in league with Satan is something they're actually willing to consider. It's unnerving.
Of course, this is a horror film and the movie establishes that it isn't just paranoia from the very beginning. We, the audience, know of the witch in the woods. What we don't know is whether anyone in the family might be working in conjunction with it. Are the children telling the truth about whisperings from Black Peter? Or are the accusations lobbied against Thomasin based on truth? The very idea that one of the children might've dabbled in the dark arts is enough to tear the family apart in fear and suspicion. It's absolutely enthralling to watch. While everyone in this film delivers standout performances (well, except maybe Harvey Scrimshaw as middle child Caleb some of his stuff didn't sit right with me), the real accolades belong to Ralph Ineson and Anya Taylor-Joy. Ineson was perfectly cast in the role as the devout Puritan and loving father to the struggling family and elicits the most sympathy as a man just trying to keep it all together, but Taylor-Joy just knocks it out as Thomasin. From the start, she's a tormented girl. She seems absolutely miserable at the news that her family's been exiled and, despite trying her best to do her part, she keeps coming under fire from her grieving mother. There's no hesitation from her mother in blaming her when something goes wrong and the youngest children are just a royal pain. Her performance walks a line where you aren't sure if she's just good at bottling up her issues in the face of her family or if she's got something going on the side, like maybe some demonic-aided retribution against her tormentors.
And I haven't even raved about how much I love the production and costume design. Eggers really went for full immersion, with period-accurate dialogue and everything. He admits to taking a few creative licenses with some aspects to better suit the story but THE WITCH, with all the talent involved in front of and behind the camera, is one of the most authentic-feeling period pieces I've seen. This all adds immeasurably to the well-written story and amazing character performances. THE WITCH won't satisfy all horror fans, and the pacing may bore some others, but it's an enthusiastic recommend from me.