The Witch (2016)
R, 93 mins.
Directed by: Robert Eggers
Written by: Robert Eggers
In Theaters
A family has a falling out with their Puritanical Christian community and moves deep into the woods to restart their lives. When the youngest child, Samuel, disappears while in the care of the oldest child, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), all the members of the family struggle with their faith in God.
The Good
Few things creep me out like religious fanaticism. Red State did make my top 10 horror films of all time after all. Some might not find the family fanatical but to me if you leave your community and then immediately make leaps to witchcraft when a few strange things happen, that’s fanatical. Even if that might be exactly what is happening. I love the way supernatural forces slowly start to make this family full of faith turn on one another. It almost becomes a situation where even the audience becomes wary of being betrayed by one or more of the family members. The brooding score of the film adds perfectly to the cinematography to create a tense and claustrophobic feel. A few scenes are truly disturbing. The acting from everyone involved is phenomenal.
The Bad
“It feels like we’re watching something we should not be seeing.” -Drew McWeeny (HitFix)
This quote did wonders for the this film’s marketing. As a friend of mine said, it could be the greatest pulled quote for a horror film ever. How bleak, how dire, how macabre must this film be to live up to such a statement? I wanted to be scared to death or shaken to my core. There are a few instances where The Witch approaches the latter, but it only toes that line and never quite crosses it. This, of course, is a slight nitpick, but I do wish it had been more terrifying. I’d have been fine with cutting nothing but adding to the run time to intensify some of the darker elements. There are some who will call this film boring or classify it as a slow burn, I will say that you have to appreciate the degradation of this family unit to enjoy all facets of the film.
The Horror
The Witch is a cliché free horror film. This has caused some to ludicrously claim that this film is in fact just a straight up drama. That, dear reader is nonsense. Call it drama first if you like and though admittedly there’s not as much blood or scares, there are clear similarities to Kubrick’s The Shining in terms of what unexplainable events can do to a family. The film builds tension in a way I would prefer more horror films to do by creating uneasiness and having the patience to let the audience focus on a seemingly mundane scene and wonder what will unfold. A man simply chopping wood might be a major scene or it might be nothing, but either way, the audience is uncomfortable and we see his mindset in his actions.
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