Written and directed by Robert Eggers (this was actually the first theatrical movie he directed), The Witch is a fantastic and clever horror movie that is not a jump scare “cheap” kind of horror experience at all! Instead, we have a real slow-burn kind of horror that keeps you on edge the whole time and makes you feel very uneasy as you watch.
How to Download The Witch
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like Anya Taylor-Joy, check out also her other appearances – Split, Glass, The New Mutants, The Northman, Amsterdam, or the TV series The Queen’s Gambit.
The Movie Review
This is a movie that I have seen a few times and even though I know what is going to happen, I still have a creepy feeling while watching this movie. It takes place in the 1630s and it is about a poor family in New England, there is father William, mother Katherine, daughter Thomasin, son Caleb and twins Mercy and Jonas.
Due to a religious argument, father William has a falling out with the people of their village so he packs his family up and they head into the woods to live and farm in a little cabin there. The large family is made larger when they have a baby called, Samuel. Life on this land is very, very hard!
One day, baby Samuel disappears, actually, he was taken by a witch who kills him and uses his body for their magic! Thomasin was there when this went down, but to her, it was like Samuel just disappeared. Obviously, the family is completely freaked out by this and this is just the start of the strange things that begin happening on the farm.
William and Katherine have suspicions that Thomasin is involved. They also suspect that Thomasin herself could in fact be the witch. The creepiest thing is the twins and their relationship with their goat that they claim talks to them! Seriously, while there are not your typical jump scares like you would expect in a horror movie, The Witch has you on edge the whole time.
From here things just descend and descend more as we realize that William is not the man he claims to be. Plus, there really is a witch in the woods, but this movie takes a really cool turn and I have to say it absolutely nails the ending. I have come across many “clever” horror movies that are great, but kind of miss the mark when it comes to wrapping things up, that 100 percent is not the case here at all!
The acting in this movie is great, most notably Anya Taylor-Joy who plays Thomasin, The Witch was actually Anya Taylor-Joy’s first big-screen movie. I do also have to say that I love the two kids they have playing Caleb and Jonas as well, they creeped me the heck out big time! Plus, Ralph Insen pulls off Michael’s walk with madness perfectly.
I also love the way that this movie looks. It has a very creepy and authentic kind of vibe to it and it is who I always imagined life during the “she’s a witch” days in New England would be. After I watched the movie and did my research, I learned that the director used mostly natural lighting for this and it may not sound like a big deal, but it makes for a very striking and real-looking movie.
If you ask me, A24 are one of the best studios making horror movies and this one here is one of their finest. The Witch is the perfect horror movie for you if you want something that is going to keep you up at night after you have watched it. Instead of making you jump, it chills you right at your core instead!
