Cast Into Exile, a Family Encounters Evil

Anya Taylor-Joy in "The Witch"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

While many horror films these days take place in modern times, it’s always a fun switch when a movie in this genre decides to move its story to an entirely different time.  It allows the audience to be transported to an era where there were different kinds of fear people may not have today, but these fears are nonetheless horrifying when manifested on screen.

Up-and-coming director Robert Eggers makes his debut with the horror film, “The Witch.”  In a movie that sends you to a chapter of history from centuries ago, it offers you an unrelentingly unsettling view of an outcasted family trapped in the grips of an unexpected terror.

In the 17th century, husband and father William (Ralph Ineson), his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), his oldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), and her four younger siblings, are banished from their New England village.  Following their leave, they settle on a plot of land at the edge of the woods and build a farm.  After the family’s infant son mysteriously vanishes, they soon start to think there could be malevolent forces residing deep in the woods.

The entire cast does a memorable job in displaying the family’s harrowing descent into terror and madness, especially Taylor-Joy, Ineson, and Dickie.  Each of their characters has their own distinct way of how they react to the horrible scenario at hand.  Taylor-Joy, in a breakthrough performance, provides a sense of innocence that has us care and worry for her.  Ineson strongly shows the father as a sympathetic character, in that even though his overly prideful religious views got the family where they are, he believes in doing what’s right for them, all while needing to be their rock as his wife grieves for their lost child.  As the mother, Dickie brings across immense grief of losing her youngest child, and then shows a slow descent into madness as the film goes on.

The cinematography by Jarin Blaschke offers a chilling aura throughout the film, especially during the scenes in which we’re brought into the woods.  His camerawork helps in making this setting one of the most unnerving aspects of the movie, and Blaschke’s photography does a successful job in making us feel utter dismay when he brings us into that hopeless place of dread.

The screenplay by Eggers is one that would make playwright Arthur Miller exceedingly proud, in that both “The Crucible” and “The Witch” capture the crippling paranoia expressed during the times of when many people were suspected of witchcraft. 

One of the best qualities of the story is how, besides focusing on the horrors of the witch, the film also has some scenes that focus on the dynamics of the family, having secrets come up about them that help further develop the relationships between the characters.  When providing an in-depth view of this family, we become emotionally invested in them because they aren’t just a group of one-dimensional characters being terrorized by an evil entity; they are a flawed family that’s experiencing hardships they never could have imagined, and the screenplay shows the complexities within these characters as their situation worsens.

Eggers proves himself to be a true master of atmospheric horror, using music and camerawork to create scenes of near-unbearable tension, some of which had me recoiling into my seat, wanting me to put as much distance as I could between me and the screen.  The film is an hour and half of pure creepiness, and it’s a moviegoing experience that leaves you quite shaken once it’s over.  In a time where most horror movies are satisfied in just giving audiences one cheap jump scare after the next, Eggers displays admirable restraint, yet still manages to have you quaking in your own nervousness.  As you watch “The Witch,” you are presented with a new vision of cinematic horror, and you will see Eggers is the type of director the horror genre needs and deserves.

Grade: A