The Witch takes place in New England in 1630. It follows William (Ralph Ineson) and Katherine (Kate Dickie), a devout Christian couple, and their five children. They have left their village and now live way out in the wilderness. When their newborn son vanishes, the family slowly falls apart and evil forces begin to surround them.
This is director Robert Eggers first full length feature. I'm pretty sure up until this point he'd only directed short films. I must say I'm impressed. I can see why he won Best Director at Sundance. He does an amazing job setting the tone and creating this extremely haunting environment. Everything from the way it was shot (using very bleak colors) to the music makes you feel like you're right there. I also have a lot of respect for him for not having it be your typical horror film that relies too much on gore and jump scares. In fact there weren't any jump scares in this that I can recall. While the movie definitely falls into the horror category, it was more disturbing than it was scary. Which to me is way more effective.
He's also able to get good performances out of his actors, especially the actress who plays the oldest daughter. I really hope he continues to make movies in the future.
That being said, there are some flaws. First, the characters speak in Old English. Normally that wouldn't bother me but when you combine it with the actors very thick accents, I couldn't understand most of the dialog.
Also, it has a slow build to it. Too slow at times. It's only an hour and a half long but it definitely felt longer.
And finally, the ending is kind of a letdown. It's not bad by any means, but it made me go, "Really? That's it?" That's all I can say without spoiling it for you.
If you're a horror fan I really think you'll like The Witch. I wouldn't rush out to see it or anything, but I'll say it's worth the money to see it in theaters.
My Rating: 7/10
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