It Is Safe to Say I Will Avoid all the Black Goats at the Petting Zoo Because of Black Philip!

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2016)

The movie "The Witch" is based on stories about witches and devils that have been circulating for over 400 years or so. The last name free Puritan family of William (Ralph Ineson), wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), daughters Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) Mercy (Ellie Grainger), and sons, Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), Mercy's twin, Jonas (Lucas Dawson) and infant son Samuel are the main characters in this story.
The story takes place in 1630, 10 years after the Mayflower landed in Massachusetts. The family is incredibly zealous even by Puritan standards and this doesn't set well with the community who kicks them out. William is determined his family will not let the woods tear them apart and the farm will be a thriving one.
The life of the family literally goes to hell when baby Samuel vanishes while Thomasin is watching him. The crops begin to die and the chickens lay dead eggs and the goat gives blood instead of milk. The one animal on the farm that gives the most grief is Black Philip. The twins claim he talks to them and they also claim Thomasin is a witch.
The only real witch in the story is the one who killed Samuel and who seduced Caleb when the older boy went out for food for the family. Caleb comes back naked and delirious. He is in hysterics in bed and this wears out his heart and he dies. Mercy and Jonas don't help matters either when they both collapse on the ground in hysterics as well!
In the end, the whole family except for Thomasin is killed. William is gored to death by Black Philip while Katherine is killed by Thomasin in self-defense. Katherine tried to strangle her daughter and Thomasin stopped her. Black Philip is really the devil who set in motion all the bad things that happened to the family. He has Thomasin sign the book he has and leads her to the woods after she strips naked. Thomasin is now apart of the coven of witches in the woods and in a weird way is much happier now. Before everyone made her feel like she was a witch and abnormal because she was a teenage girl struggling with puberty.
This was a very interesting, scary movie about how a belief system can turn people against each other. This family forgot about love and acceptance all belief systems should have and the devil was able to get a hold of them. All the characters were excellent with special mention paid to Anya Taylor-Joy as the misunderstood Thomasin! Robert Eggers really did his homework in regards to the language, clothing, and religion of the time and it shows!