A VVell-Meant VVaste of Time

Rating: 4/10 (18 November 2018)

VVhile this movie might have better production value than your average student film, it is in no vvay as intelligent nor as engaging as one vvould hope. The characters are largely stereotypical of the average modern person's understanding of the time period, and are also insufferable (especially one in particular who only ever vvhines and flies off the handle in every single scene). I get that it's trendy to exaggerate historical Christian paranoia nowadays, but A) This depiction of it vvas vvholly unbelievable and inaccurate to this type of scenario, and B) The paranoia in this movie clearly isn't baseless, so the message fails anyway (not that vve get to see much of the evidence of the paranoia being baseless mind you, because that vvould be too exciting).
The movie is filled vvith long sequences of a character slowly vvalking from one side of the screen to the other, painfully melodramatic outbursts that drag on vvay past the point of credibility, and creepy music that dramatically builds up to accompany... nothing at all happening. This is an annoying movie made vvorse by people's recommendations of it.
In terms of meaning, this movie is a confused mess. It vvants to scare you vvith actual vvitches because vvitches are scary, but at the same time it vvants to make a point about religious paranoia and misogyny because vvitches aren't real. But also vvitches are real in this movie, but also they're not. Nothing matters in the end, vve vvill all float on, roll credits, enjoy disappointment.
Kudos for at least researching the setting a bit though. Most period pieces of this genre vvouldn't bother.