Unsetteling

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 2017)

The less you know about this film before you watch it, the better. The themes could find no better setting than the 17th century New England recluse scenery where this mythos has the precise place to exist and expand on its own.
First time writer/director Robert Eggers is given (almost) full liberty to embrace and elaborate on the weird and the hypnotic, creating an ever-growing and unsettling atmosphere of fear and discomfort. The film hearkens back to those classical psychological frightening horror movies of old, such as Rosemary's Baby or The Haunting where more is made out of less: suggestion is key, actual display is minimal (but ever present and upcoming). When the time comes, the unsettlement is so severe that the Gothic-demented folkloric horror shown grabs hold of whatever composure is left. The Witch is a superior film, masterfully shot and executed, not designed for repeated viewings but intended for a lasting imprint of fear and homage to the mythology it is inspired by.