The Witch:
An isolated Puritan family on a farm in the uncharted territories of New England are faced with horrific tragedy when their newborn Sam goes mysteriously missing. Suspecting a witch is in their midst, the family must fend off this insidious and seemingly supernatural force as it tears their family apart, fueled by their restrictive religious beliefs and superstitious fears.
Robert Eggers has constructed here a brilliant horror film, and a tautly thrilling period drama about an unraveling family facing both the hardships of their isolated, conservative lifestyle and poor harvest as well as more primal fears such as the fear of the unknown. The inspiration from Puritan folklore is undeniable, namely given away by the subtitle A New England Folktale, but also the setting and themes. The dark, foreboding wood which threatens to envelop the relatively peaceful and serene green farmland is a staple of Grimms' Fairy Tales like Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel, not to mention the brief glimpses we get of the titular monster's cottage in the deep woods and her various guises she takes (I won't give one away but let's say it's fairly reminiscent of a popular female fairy tale character) seem to be images we've all seen re-imagined in countless interpretations of classic stories.
The nuance and subtlety of characters and their motivations and repressed desires is something I was surprised the film tackled as well as it did. It never feels as though it is shoving anything in your face, but rather has slight implications, and keeps you in the dark. In fact, it can never be sure up until the climax that what we are seeing is just the product of cabin fever mixed with religious indoctrination-related fears of the Devil, or is truly the Prince of Darkness infesting the familial cottage.
The musical score by Cube composer Mark Korven is pitch-perfect, reminiscent of the more experimental soundtracks of the 70's horror films while also capturing the tone of the film well: slow-building, uncomfortable, and searing to experience. The compositions made each scene elevated in tension and ominousness, making me hope that the upsetting and gruesome acts on screen would cease and the horrible, disjointed chants and rhythms of the music would stop infesting my eardrums, and I cannot give a bigger compliment to the sound design than that.
Eggers' attention to period accurate sets, costumes, and dialogue will off-put the teen audience members who will have unmistakably flocked to this film expected the dull and tired jump-scares of Blumhouse films, only to discover the scenes in this film sometimes read like that classic play they hate reading in English class. The shame in the greatness of this film is the majority of its' audience (the aforementioned teens and college-aged slasher and jump scare buffs) will not appreciate the period dialogue or subtle psychological horror or dramatic tension and will mistake the film for boring, pretentious, or just plain weird and pointless.
The acting was incredible from the central players, who are the only characters we really get to know in the movie. Anya Taylor-Joy was unexpectedly inspired as Thomasin, the eldest daughter and the closest thing the film gets to a main heroine. She was vulnerable and stressed with the immense pressure on her to help in the family affairs, but also felt like a real teenage girl living in that period: repressed, confused, tired of living in fear of God, etc. Her interactions with her siblings, including her brother Caleb (played by an also terrific Harvey Scrimshaw, who portrays the struggles of an adolescent boy growing up in such a restrictive and isolated family) felt so real and vivid. Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie, both recognizable faces and veterans of character acting, especially in fantasy and period pieces, are almost Oscar-worthy as the parents. Ineson's father is gruff and righteous, but unlike most Puritan patriarch characters, he is too vulnerable and feels human and tormented, and you do get a sense that he is devoted to his family, even in his darker moments. Dickie's mother is utterly passionate in her devotion to both God and her children. Her declining sanity as her family's existence goes to hell is tragic and yet totally understandable given the circumstances and Dickie is experienced in portraying slightly unhinged matriarchs (just see her supporting role on Game of Thrones for further proof of that). The family felt real and incredibly sympathetic, making early scenes with them hard to stomach. I wanted this film to just be some period drama piece so nothing truly awful would befall them, but I also knew this was a horror film, so there was nothing to do but just watch the family slowly devolve into treachery and madness. If I ever do a more in-depth look at this film (which I intend to some day), I will more fully develop my thoughts on each character's specific flaws and desires and how they are exploited in throughout the film by the supernatural forces around them.
The scenes with the witch (or is it a witch?) were handled remarkably. They were brief and disturbing, and offered only glimpses of the twisted world of this woman. It also makes one realize that it's no wonder why Puritans were so paranoid about witches in real life: if I though these women were real I'd be terrified, too. The portrayal of black magic in this film is raw and unflinching, but also vague enough to provide a sense of mystery about the subject to remain frightening and avoid bad taste.
I cannot help but compare this film with Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem. Both are frightening in their own respects and both center around witchcraft, but they are completely contrasting in styles (The Witch is a slow-burning period piece with minimal gore and a downplayed witch; The Lords of Salem is a throwback to the acid trip-esque exploitation films of the 70's and is very in-your-face with its' presentations of witchcraft and some truly demented and bad taste imagery). I like both films (though I like this recent one a bit more), and I feel both are throwbacks to true horror. No jump scares or silly slasher kills, just pure terror and human misery. And it is because of this that these are classics in any other period but now. Due to the way the horror market is now, it is essentially just a teen playground where it's all safe scares that have CG ghosts who go "BOO!" and are essentially a beginner's level of horror film. This means for these witch films to be a financial success, they have to be marketed to the teen horror audience. However, the general teen audience is also not mature nor educated enough to really comprehend the subjects tackled in these films and therefore will walk out hating the film and probably feeling cheated or revolted or both. If you are a person reading this who just wants a fun night out at the movies, a funhouse-style scare show where you can laugh it all off at the end, steer away from these films. But, if you are someone looking for some thought-provoking art that spurs real conversations on culture and religion while also packing in expertly crafted tension and nightmare-inducing imagery and sound design, then I cannot recommend these enough.
While everyone's raving about Deadpool, I'm going to spread the word about The Witch. It's the first movie in a while that I've actually loved the more I've thought of it and I believe it is one of the best horror films in years. Hell, it's just a really good movie all-around. The acting, period detail, music and sound, assaulting imagery, and roots in classic folklore all add up to something that I think is truly Academy Award-worthy, at least nomination considerations. But, to my everlasting frustration, horror just isn't "Academy material" it seems looking at the recent years of the Oscars. Robert Eggers has proven himself a creative visionary to be looked out for in the near future, Anya Taylor-Joy and the other child actors have cemented names for themselves and hopefully get more work (and take it away from the dreadful child actors that get most of the work), and Ineson and Dickie have again proven themselves to be criminally underrated performers and strong leads. Just go see it. I don't care if you are the type of person I mentioned above who would probably not like it. Do yourself a favor, go in with an open mind and moderate expectations and you will probably be as blown away as I was by such a powerhouse debut for a director. 8/10 stars.
(Image: Wikipedia)
