A brilliant terrifying horror film that'll chill you to the bone

Rating: 9/10 (9 May 2016)

Really great horror films doesn't come around too often. I read a little about The Witch for about a year ago and was immediately interested in the story. It seemed so simple and disturbing, a British family in the 17th century that has traveled to America in hope of finding happiness and success. Not agreeing with the local church, they leave the village they've been living in, to move out to the country and build their own house. Once they are settled in, strange things begin to happen and it seems that someone in the family is more than a human being. Relatively unknown actors and a feature film debut for director Robert Eggers.
Witches on film have been portrayed before, like The Blair Witch Project. It is something disturbing and brutal about witches, especially if you think about our own history here in Sweden where we for a long time burned women believed to be witches. The Witch is a drama horror film that doesn't rush its introduction. A lot of the story is created from the mood and the music. Instead of telling the story and explaining things through dialogue, Eggers lets the music and the cinematography speak for themselves. Sometimes the camera sweeps around the forest with creepy music playing in the background. Also religion plays a big part in the film. God and the belief in him, is always there and gets even worse when the family thinks they've been cursed. To make it even more realistic and believable, the dialogue is written in old English taken directly from old real writings from the same time. That is if we are to believe the credits.
Witches on film have been portrayed before, like The Blair Witch Project. It is something disturbing and brutal about witches, especially if you think about our own history here in Sweden where we for a long time burned women believed to be witches. The Witch is a drama horror film that doesn't rush its introduction. A lot of the story is created from the mood and the music. Instead of telling the story and explaining things through dialogue, Eggers lets the music and the cinematography speak for themselves. Sometimes the camera sweeps around the forest with creepy music playing in the background. Also religion plays a big part in the film. God and the belief in him, is always there and gets even worse when the family thinks they've been cursed. To make it even more realistic and believable, the dialogue is written in old English taken directly from old real writings from the same time. That is if we are to believe the credits.
David Lindahl - www.filmografen.se