Paranoia? Faith? Witches?

New England, the 1630’s

Horror films come in all shapes and sizes.  You have your standard slasher films, haunted house flicks, monster movies, and suspense thrillers.  You also have those trendy found footage films, Japanese ghost stories and comedy horror as well.  Religion is often at the center of many horror films, and 2015’s The Witch uses religion to give us a not-so-traditional tale that’s more thought provoking than thrilling.

Based on the stories and folktales that he grew up with, writer and director Robert Eggers’ film introduces us to a family that is banished from their Puritan community after the patriarch, William, refuses to change his stance on the New Testament of the Bible.  The devout family heads out on their own and settles in a large clearing deep in the woods.

Minor Spoilers Ahead

Katherine, the family’s matriarch, gives birth to Samuel at their new home.  Not long after that, he is apparently stolen by a witch that lives in the forest while being cared for by his sister, Thomasin, the eldest child in the family.  Katherine turns to God, praying for the safe return of her infant son.  William believes that a wolf carried the child away.  The oldest son, Caleb, begins to take notice of his older sister and while he makes no advances on her, it’s very obvious that he is at the age where young boys start becoming attracted to women (this comes into play later in the film).  The youngest living siblings, the twins called Mercy and Jonas, are seen throughout the film talking to Black Phillip, one of the family’s goats.  They chase him and sing songs about him.

Soon enough, another tragedy strikes the family and paranoia begins to settle into the mind of Katherine.  She becomes convinced that Thomasin is a witch and that she has written her name in the book of the Devil.  William tries to defend Thomasin at first, but even he begins to question not only his daughter, but his faith as well.  Thomasin blames the twins, claiming that they are in league with Black Phillip, whom she believes is a familiar of Satan.

More tragedy soon follows, and the family spirals out of control.  Begging God for mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, the entire family becomes convinced that a witch is at work against them.  Whether or not that is true, we never really know.  Watch the film and decide for yourself if it’s a witch, bad luck, or mental breakdowns that break the family apart.

This film has no true jump at you scares in it.  Other than a couple of grotesque images and a little gore, there’s not much that will make you queasy.  The real horror in this film comes from the way the family breaks under the pressure of either their faith (or lack thereof), paranoia, isolation from other people, or actual witches.  Eggers never shows us the man behind the curtain in this film, so we are left wondering about who actually does all of the damage to the family.

The film is extremely bleak.  Almost all of the scenes feature very little light.  After cruising the web for a bit, I learned that Eggers intentionally used natural light and candle light to add to the film’s dark tone.  The music is minimal as well but works perfectly when it is utilized.

The only things that aren’t minimalized in the film are the performances of the cast.  Ralph Ineson (Game of Thrones, the Harry Potter films) plays William.  Katherine is portrayed by Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones).  Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson play Caleb, Mercy, and Jonas, respectively.  All of these actors do a brilliant job with their respective roles.  Ineson shines while showing a father torn between the love of his family, his staunch faith, and trying to rationalize the tragedy around him.  Dickie goes completely over the edge as Katherine.  Scrimshaw does fine work as a young man who is beginning to have certain feelings and urges about women.  The twins are brutally annoying but quickly transition into young children that are terrified of someone or something that’s destroying their family.

The brightest star in the film is Anya Taylor-Joy as Thomasin.  In a film that lacks a lot of action and relies heavily on dialogue and emotion to get itself across, Taylor-Joy does a fine job of telegraphing her feelings of terror onto the viewer.

Some have called this film boring for its lack of traditional scares.  Others have said that it’s a slow burner that never really takes off.  I see it as a film that simply tells us a story about life in New England in the 1630’s where an isolated family succumbs to their own fears or possibly an actual witch.  Again, Eggers never reveals what’s really going on with the family.  On the surface (especially at the film’s conclusion), it looks like a witch really is tormenting these people, but there’s just enough hysteria thrown into the mix to leave the audience wondering.

As always, thanks for reading my post.  Let me know in the comments if you’ve seen this film and if you enjoyed it (or were bored out of your brains).  It’s certainly an unconventional horror film and it’s not for everyone.  Still, I think that it deserves a look.