"The Devil holds fast thy eyelids"

Rating: 8/10 (14 March 2016)

New England, 1630: A family is banished from their plantation community over unspecified practical or doctrinal differences--father William's "prideful conceit" is all that we are told. They make a rough homestead in the wilderness, where their infant son disappears in the literal wink of an eye while under the care of eldest daughter Thomasin. . .catch the connotations of her name? A lot of creepy stuff follows.
While the plot line's a bit too hazy to be truly satisfying, "The Witch" is better and more original than most recent horror efforts. If more solid folklore and theology were brought in, this film might have been really great. It also could have worked better if the supernatural were left out altogether and everything was kept in the characters' guilt-ridden heads—or at least implied to be. I got a little restless during the draggy middle portions which, luckily, don't last long. That being said, those who want lots of action and constant surprises probably won't dig "The Witch." This film is also quite bleak, so the easily dejected should also perhaps avoid it.
An interesting blend of supernatural and psychological horror. Keeps you guessing who's really evil--the parents, the children, neither, or both? Is the rabbit just a rabbit, the goats just goats? Is the silver cup really just an heirloom? Is it deliberate witchcraft, unwitting obsession or possession, or is the family just stir-crazy, overworked, and over-worried about how they'll survive the upcoming winter? Some of the middle details, along with the turnabout at the end, help to answer these questions, though they don't entirely--and who wants them to? The children's attempts at fun and games—or are they more than that?— add a great deal. It's easy to see why young kids would be bored out of their minds and willing to do just about anything for entertainment in these surroundings.
Obviously fairly low budget, but the directors made good use of what they had to work with. A small cast and narrow use of settings, but good visuals, costume design, and dialogue. The latter is easy enough to understand if you know your basic thee-thou-hithers, etc. Still, it's hard to follow everything in a few places due to the heavy accents and muttering, so subtitles may be necessary—I saw this in the theater, where there were none. While "The Witch" avoids stereotyping the Puritan characters as completely austere and humorless, it conveys the setting pretty convincingly. Good acting by all the main cast, but especially those who play the four children.