A Soul-Shaking, Blood-Curdling, Skin-Crawling, Bone-Chilling & Nerve-Wracking Nightmare

Rating: Null/10 (8 September 2017)

A soul-shaking, blood-curdling, skin-crawling, bone-chilling & nerve-wracking exercise in persistently looming dread, paranoia-inducing terror & never-ending nightmare, The Witch (stylized as The VVitch) is one of the best films I have ever seen and is destined to rank amongst the greatest works of 21st century cinema in the years to come.
Set in 17th century, the plot concerns a family of devout Christians who are banished from their Puritan plantation and settle on the edge of a secluded wilderness where they build a sustainable life for themselves. But when their youngest mysteriously vanishes from the premises & crops fail, the family starts to crumble and is torn to pieces by an evil that lurks in the woods.
Written & directed by Robert Eggers in what's actually his directorial debut, The Witch is one of the strongest debuts in recent memory as Eggers' direction exudes both passion & perseverance that one expects from an auteur. The writing is top notch too as Eggers fills his tale with believable characters and their finely scripted arcs only lends more credibility to its diabolical plot.
Production design team create a sinister environment that reeks of evil, and the peripherals of the isolated surroundings only add more eeriness to the whole setting. Cinematography is a highlight, relying on natural light to imbue a sense of realism while its earthy tones, cold colour palette & controlled manoeuvring of camera inculcate an aura of foreboding that only magnifies as the plot thickens.
Editing is methodically carried out, for every bit of its 93 minutes runtime plays a relevant role in the final outcome. Mark Korven's terrifying soundtrack further ups the ante by amplifying the tale's nightmarish element, thus catapulting the viewing experience to another level. Every single aspect works in perfect harmony under Eggers' supervision and brings to life a cinema that's as unique as it is unearthly.
Coming to the performances, The Witch features a devoted cast in Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw & others, and they all chip in with commendable inputs. Taylor-Joy is an absolute revelation in her role and renders her character's increasing vulnerability with great effectiveness. But the real show-stealer is the goat named Black Phillip, and you have to see it for yourself to find out why.
On an overall scale, The Witch is a deeply unnerving, extremely disquieting & powerfully affecting cinema that feels like it was crafted by the Devil himself. An absolute gem of genre filmmaking that's just as polished in the storytelling department as it is accomplished on technical scale, this ill-omened folktale is the best movie of its year, one of the finest films of the decade, and one of the genuinely great works of horror in recent memory.