The Witch

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Katie Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Sarah Stephens
Directed by: Robert Eggers
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A family in New England in the 1630s encounters a supernatural force in the woods.

Review:

Tim: The Witch won't be a horror classic, but it's a fairly effective horror movie. It doesn't quite do enough to launch itself into a place where you can truly feel good about it, but it gets awfully close. I liked that the film was set in the 1600s. With so many horror movies coming out every year, the whole genre can start feeling stale. You sit down and think, "Oh, a supernatural entity is going to terrorize a family with children who have just moved into a new house?" and you roll your eyes because you've seen that film dozens of times before. And yet, that's exactly what happens in this movie. The fact that it takes place over 350 years ago helps it feel more fresh, though. It doesn't completely alleviate that concern, but it helps.

The setting is fairly creepy- a strictly religious family moves away from the town and into the wilderness where they begin to start a new life on the edge of a forest. Unfortunately for them, the woods are haunted by an evil witch, which soon begins attacking their family. Again, nothing new, but this film at least tries to keep things interesting. The very first attack on the family was gut-wrenching and very difficult to watch. I honestly was in denial about it, expecting some kind of happy resolution. As much as it disturbed me, I truly appreciated that bold, shocking move. It could be viewed as controversial, but it absolutely upped the creepiness factor of the entire movie. This film did make a number of interesting choices that helped differentiate it. I honestly didn't think a movie could make me totally freak out over a goat, but Black Phillip is incredibly creepy. The movie used animals incredibly effectively for scares. It makes total sense, because in the 1600s, you certainly couldn't have a TV turn on by itself and display static (how many times has that happened?). What you did have in that time period was animals. And every animal is different, and how easy would it be to start to wonder if a specific animal showed more intelligence than was normal? It's not a big leap to connect said intelligence with demonic forces. I loved that the script considered this aspect and used it as an integral part of the story. I can't remember the last time animals frightened me as much as they do in this film.

The cast might not be big name actors, but everyone is well cast and they give strong performances. Anya Taylor-Joy was exceptional in the lead role. She just has this unconventionality to her- her looks, her movements, it makes you sit up because it's not like everyone else. She's really good here and I fully expect to see her many times in the near future. She has talent and will find much to do in Hollywood. Ralph Ineson was perfectly cast as well- he has this lean, weary, hard edge to him. He is exactly what I imagine people in the 1600s looked like. He gives one of the best performances of the film. The same can be said for Kate Dickie, who just looked like she belonged in this time period. She has this creepy, unstable edge to her performance than never let you feel fully comfortable when she was on screen. The rest of the children all worked very well also. The cast was a big plus.

I do have to say that the end of the film was impressive. It might not quite be the shocking, unforgettable conclusion we hoped it would be, but it's effective. It is memorable and it's totally fitting for the film. Horror movie endings are so much more critical than other genres, and this one was one of the betters.

So, with a ton of considerable strengths, why didn't I like the movie more? I think that besides the setting, this is really the same movie we've seen numerous times before. A family moves to a new place. They are haunted by some supernatural force. Initially, it might seem benign, but the frequency and intensity of attacks increase until the big, blood-soaked finale. That's not a perfect representation of this film, but it's awfully close. And, while the actors were all good, I never fully connected with this family. Besides the shocking initial death, I wasn't all that invested in whether these people would live or die. It's the classic horror movie conundrum. While this movie worked significantly harder than most to build its characters, I still never felt emotionally invested in any of them. That blunted the overall effectiveness of the movie and made the 1 hour, 32 minute run time feel longer.

While I have some complaints, I fully admit The Witch is a surprisingly decent horror movie that did a few things exceptionally well. I didn't exactly love it, but I'm really glad I saw it. I would certainly have no hesitation recommending this to horror aficionados.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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