An unnerving, surreal descent into religious paranoia

Rating: 10/10 (14 May 2016)

THE WITCH is, in a word, unsettling. Horror films don't normally have an effect on me, much less scare me, but this one was unnerving in a very palpable way. It's about a Puritan family who are banished from their village for an unspecified religious offense, and subsequently move to a location bordering a forest. While there, repeated misfortune and isolation create the perfect storm of religious paranoia over whether one or more of them are possessed by the devil. What THE WITCH masterfully does is to create this tense atmosphere and maintain it over nearly the entire length of the film. Whether it be odd/surreal imagery, slow and deliberate camera-work, or an eerie score reminiscent of Ligeti's "Atmospheres" (used in Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY), all of it is used to brilliant effect and should be capable of rattling even the most seasoned viewer, especially if they have a religious background/upbringing (as I did). In fact, I sensed a lot of Kubrick here; not just 2001, but also THE SHINING. Not surprisingly, they share some thematic elements. The performances were also pitch perfect and very believable for the characters the actors played and, although this might prove hard to get by for some, they speak in period-authentic language/accents. Ultimately, the film is rather ambiguous as to whether or not the events occur in the manner you see them, but that's the beauty of it: like religion itself, THE WITCH is open to interpretation. And as such, it establishes itself (in my opinion) as one of the best horror films of the last 10 years.