Very Unsettling but Well Put Together

Rating: 8/10 (19 February 2016)

I think the best word to describe this movie is unsettling. The trailers hinted at just how unsettling the film would get but they barely scratched the surface of what was going to happen during the story. It's definitely a horror movie but it's unlike any other film I've seen in the genre before. There are parts where it seems like we're just watching a very intense drama but then the atmosphere kicks it up a notch and you're reminded that this is a really disturbing horror flick. The director is a guy named Robert Eggers who hasn't directed a whole lot just yet but I can't help but believe that he has a promising career ahead of him. Let's talk about the plot.
Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her family in 1630 New England are forced to leave their village because of a difference in religious beliefs. The family heads out into the woods to start a farm and worship the Lord in the way that Thomasin's parents (Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie) want them to. They're already having difficulties adjusting but things get even worse when the baby of the family goes missing. Unfortunately, this is just the first of many strange and horrible incidents that befall the family.
The cast does an absolutely phenomenal job and I have to give credit to Anya Taylor-Joy for carrying this movie as well as she does. She hasn't been in the acting game for very long but she already shows quite a bit of promise. Thomasin is a very ambiguous character since she obviously loves and obeys her parents the best she can but her situation is also stifling her. There are many reasons for this but the most obvious one is the deteriorating relationship with her mother. Speaking of the mother, Dickie gives a phenomenal performance as a loving but very strict woman when it comes to her children. I also can't forget Ineson's role as William. He comes off as a tough and hard man but he's afraid of letting his wife know about their true situation out in the woods.
I mentioned earlier that the movie excels at being unsettling. Well, there are a few reasons for this. First, the atmosphere out in the woods and around the farm is very claustrophobic and the it feels like there's never a good day around this place. It's always dank and it just feels miserable outside. The house and barn are both small and quite a few scenes take place with all of the characters scrunched together with barely any light to speak of. The film also lets you know right off the bat just how cruelly it's willing to treat its characters about eight minutes in.
Another aspect of the movie that I really enjoyed was how it dealt with the titular Witch. We only see the Witch a handful of times during the course of the story but it's obvious that this is a downright evil and sadistic character. We the audience know of the Witch's existence long before any of the other characters do and it makes what the family is going through all the more painful. The Witch is dangerous but the family starts tearing itself apart with accusations and a complete lack of trust. This is best shown in the way Thomasin and her mother interact with one another but Thomasin also has problems with some of her younger siblings. We slowly start to learn that this distrust is part of a larger plot but it definitely leaves you wondering what's going to happen next.
I enjoyed this film but it's definitely not the type of thing that leaves you smiling when you exit the theater. Horror fans will probably appreciate an excellent addition to the genre and even fans of period pieces will probably like the look at the past that the movie offers. However, this film definitely won't be for everyone. I found it disturbing and I have a pretty high resistance to this kind of stuff. I recommend it just because of how scary and well put together everything is but make sure you're actually in the mood for something downright disturbing and unsettling.