The Witch

I don’t know if I would consider this a horror film; more like a moody drama with standout horror elements, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Set in 17^th century New England, The Witch takes us on a slow burn journey of a single family at a pivotal moment in their lives: some weird shit is going down and they believe that pure evil is responsible, or more accurately, their daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy). Little does the family know that their misfortune and odd happenings have less to do with their daughter, and more to do with a real live witch that resides just inside the woods on the outskirts of their isolated home. As the family begins to crumble from the inside out and their misfortune begins to worsen, the question becomes whether all of this really is the witch’s doing, or is it just a bad string of luck that needs a scapegoat in the form of their young daughter.

I’m warning everyone right now, you need to pay attention to this film. I don’t mean pay attention in the sense that this is a twisty mind-bender of a movie, I mean pay attention in the sense that if you aren’t listening close enough, you’ll literally understand nothing coming out of anyone’s mouth. Kudos to first time writer/director Robert Eggers for going all out with the authenticity of the film, but man, is it hard to follow parts of the movie when everyone speaks in 17^th century English. Apparently the word “you” didn’t exist back then, and when thee sees this movie, thee will understand what I mean. See what I did there?

To be honest, this is probably the biggest hurdle audiences need to jump over before they fully allow themselves to become invested in the film. Not only is it a bit silly to basically see and hear how people acted like back in the day, it’s also a bit frustrating, especially when a lot of the dialogue is obscured enough to a point where I literally had no idea what was happening in the first ten-ish minutes or so. It’s a brilliant take on what is essentially a period piece film; it’s just a little tough to swallow at first. Either way, once you get used to how Eggers treats his vision, it’s almost impossible to think of the film being shot any other way.

Visually, Eggers does a great job giving this movie some welcome darkness and cinematic flair. Nothing here is happy; it’s all grays and cloudy skies and moody music that makes you wonder when the next terrible event is going to befall this family. Outside of the handful of horror scenes themselves, this is where these elements of the film really stand out. It’s all in the look and minute details of each scene that really amps up the tension and, at least for me, made me uneasy for almost the entire runtime. It says a lot when a sweeping shot of a barren and lifeless wooded area gives you that uncomfortable feeling like something terrible is about to happen. Not bad, Mr. Eggers, not bad at all.

That being said, I don’t want to say this film was boring, but I can absolutely understand some people’s problem with it, especially when they think they’re heading into a straight up horror film. I feel like this is a movie that, when taken as it is, will be appreciated as it deserves to be, but I have another feeling telling me that most people won’t put up with the movie long enough to allow themselves to be fully immersed in what is happening onscreen, and that’s a shame because there’s a lot to like here.

The acting, once you get around the all-out period piece direction of the film, is really well done. Each member of the family, save for the annoying twins, have their own problems and personal touches that makes us believe that we’re seeing a fully functional set of real people. There are a few rough patches here and there, but overall the acting really conveys the terrifying struggle these characters face in the shadow of something they don’t fully understand. This leads to a handful of great scenes where the added effect of some well-placed horror elements goes a long way in moving the story and character arcs along.

As I mentioned before, I wouldn’t 100% call this film a horror flick and I think the fact that the marketing is hailing it as “the scariest horror film in ages”, or something dumb like that, really hurts the film in the overall scheme of things. Sure, there are some awesomely tense and truly unsettling scenes here, but the overall package of the film comes across more as a drama with excellent horror elements scattered about its relatively tight runtime than a full-fledged horror film. It’s like a weird subgenre really, more aligned with how a dramedy (comedy/drama) film is essentially much different than a straight comedy or drama. I’m gonna go ahead and coin the term drorror because it describe this film a whole lot better, and I also like making up words.

Anyway, point is, this is a well crafted movie that needs to be taken as a whole and not shoved into any specific genre that would, and has, tricked people into thinking it’s something that it’s not. Once you understand that, this film is quite enjoyable and is an interesting take on witch mythology, as well as a gritty character study about what happens when darkness creeps into a family that cannot handle the madness that comes with it.