A grotesque picture of religious horror

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2018)

At its roots, the horror genre attract us because it forces us to face our personal demons: this kind of terror coming from facing unknown monsters that are metaphors of our daily life struggles or fears strangely intrigues us.
When horrors deal with religion though, they usually just use it as an excuse to make horned demons appear pretty much everywhere but The Witch is extremely different: we barely see any monster, violence is kept at a minimum and the terror usually comes in form of a terrible sense of unease.
When this New England family is banished and forced to live in exile amidst the woods, we immediately see that their journey is doomed.
The younger child, Samuel, disappears and it doesn't take long before each family member starts blaming each other until accusations of witchcraft and demonic possession arise.
Not too differently from Carpenter's The Thing, The Witch focuses on the personal relationship between the cast members and their feeling of un trust that the father tries to sedate through prayers and sermons.
The Witch rarely gives some answers, it keeps the viewer constantly wondering why some things happen, whether someone in the family has signed a path with the Devil or some evil force has simply decided to put its hands on the Abbot family.
The more we watch, the more we're inclined to think someone in particular attracted the Witch of the Woods and we're left wondering until the bodies start piling up.
The Witch isn't a movie for everyone though: the slow pace doesn't always help building up the suspense and more in general the screenplay asks the viewers to be patient and wait for the final climax.
Those who are up to it though, will enjoy one of the creepiest and amazing horror movies of the past years.