Absolutely Riveting

Rating: 10/10 (26 September 2016)

The Witch, or as I prefer to write it, The VVitch, follows a family as they are exiled from their home city and settle on a new plot of land where they are haunted by what they believe to be a witch from the woods.
I went into this movie knowing it was slow, particularly the first 20-30 minutes. However, I didn't find this to be the case at all. Maybe this was because I mentally prepared myself for the beginning or maybe not, I don't know. But I'd suggest preparing for a slow movie right off the bat.
Everything about this movie is pretty phenomenal. To start, the acting is spot-on. Every character is almost perfect, with the exception of one or two points with the child actors. But even then it wasn't terrible, it was just not as good as everything else. For the most part the child actors were great. Every line of dialogue is very well delivered, despite the fact that it's an old way of talking. Every actor seems to feel each line of dialogue and made it genuine and real, which I haven't seen at all in these kinds of movies.
The writing is, while done in a way from the 1630s, easy enough to understand while still maintaining that accuracy. It requires the audience to pay attention to what they're seeing to properly understand it, but it's not too terribly complex, nor is the story complicated or requiring you to understand every single word to know what's going on.
The movie actually has a very original concept. It takes a relatively unoriginal general idea/type of horror and makes it something original. The VVitch is more of a family drama caused by the result of a witch hanging out in the woods. And in that way it makes the characters realistic and relatable, but it's also something we don't see every day. Its a realistic, relatable horror movie that shows the effect that an element of horror has on a family.
Of course, part of making a good horror movie is making it scary, and this one succeeds on that level as well. It doesn't cater to all the typical horror tropes, but instead goes for subtlety. It's a slow- burn horror, so naturally the horror is few and far between, but thanks to the immense build up of tension and curiosity throughout the film every reveal or bit of horror is all the more effective.
The movie is mostly straightforward, but there is plenty that isn't explained. It requires you as the audience to think just a little to completely understand the movie, which I appreciated. The movie doesn't just spoon-feed you all the information you need to be completely satisfied. It treats the audience like a bunch of capable-of-comprehension people and allows you to figure stuff out on your own. Again, it's not like it's overly complicated though, it's pretty easy to understand.
The ending was pretty great too. Without any actual words, the movie manages to communicate a lot about the story to the audience. Plus it's just creepy and messed up, and that's always to be appreciated in a horror.
To top all this off, the movie has a great look. The shots, especially at the beginning, are beautiful. While they do die down towards the second and third act, the entire set is just so cool to look at that every shot is a scenic one. But as far as visuals go, it's not just in scenery. The set itself looks fantastic, and the costumes are spot on. I rarely notice these things, but dang, the costumes were good. Apparently they were even made from the same materials and patterns from the time, and it certainly shows.
I got so into this movie that about half an hour in when I wanted more pizza I didn't want to get up to get some, nor did I want to pause the movie. I didn't want to break the momentum of the story, and I didn't want to miss anything. So I sacrificed pizza for this movie. Eventually my friend paused the movie, at which point I grabbed the rest of an entire pizza and and took it with me to finish the movie. I wasn't going to going to risk going hungry again. The movie managed to steal my appetite by the third act though. It wasn't gross, it was just unsettling.
Overall The VVitch is fantastic. It's got great actors, great characters, great writing, an original concept, a great ending, and is overall a great movie to look at. I absolutely loved this movie. It's easily one of the best of the year, maybe even the best of the year. In the end I'd certainly recommend this movie, so long as your not going in expecting your typical garbage horror flick.