Damn You Easter Bunny!

Rating: 9/10 (22 February 2016)

The VVitch is a movie written and directed by Robert Eggers. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, and Harvey Scrimshaw, along with Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson.
A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
The VVitch is a 'horror movie' like no other. It manifests itself inside the viewer creating a genuine feeling of dread and anxiety as it becomes more and more apparent how inescapable the situation truly is. This dread and anxiety is reflected onto the silver screen as the characters understand their predicament slightly later than the audience.
Though I did thoroughly enjoy The VVitch, I can definitely a large number of people hate it as everything about it seems so damn impenetrable. This is mainly due to the quaint setting and the fact that this movie isn't a true horror movie or even thriller. What it is, is a rich period piece that finds its depth in its heady yet poignant themes.
Writer, Robert Eggers, understands the kind of movie he desires to make and does it with much gusto. He wanted to design a heated family drama under the masquerade of a supernatural thriller. This is no easy task as Eggers makes the active choice to keep the characters in the dark, while feeding the audience provocative twists on the age old story. This works quite well in constructing a tense and morbidly dark atmosphere that succeeds at making the viewer feel helpless with no real reason why. Emphasizing build up instead of cheap results and firm grasps on familial ties, paranoia, extremest mindset, the script of The VVitch is deeply disturbing yet pristine in its construction and subtext. Though tedious for some, and a joy for others, one thing is universal in both parties: the distaste seemingly tidy conclusion. For a movie that packs so much creative bite, an ending that boasts some interesting twist or an open ended yet arguably conclusive was definitely necessary. Eggers decides to go in a different, more definitive, end. This is frustrating since on first glance it seems too simplistic for a movie that is anything but. This is a complete fallacy as the straight forward, strict ending demonstrates the amount of nuance behind the main character in surprising and dour ways.
The main character, Thomasin, is brought to life with full autonomy by Anya Taylor-Joy, who as a first time actress, delivered a surprisingly seasoned performance. She is assisted by Ralph Ineson who gives an equally dedicated performance. Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was Harvey Scrimshaw progressively improving performance, that really stole a handful of crucial scenes almost seamlessly.
The direction in this movie was also surprisingly as Eggers makes some very smart calls as he uses exaggerated pans, wide shots, and moving shots as he truly brings out the setting while building the atmosphere, however this does drastically slow downs the pace which somewhat works against the progress made. He also uses an abundant compelling amount of imagery resembling fairy tales like Red Riding Hood and the Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, which in turn stimulates childhood fears and subverts them. This is matched by the dreary yet realized cinematography and the ominous score.
The VVitch is a Unsettling masterwork of horror cinema that's brilliance is realized by his great ambitions. The VVitch gets an A or a 9/10.