In 19th century New England, William (Ralph ineson) and his family-Katherine (Kate Dickie) and their children Thomasin (Anya Taylor – Joy), Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw) and twins Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and Jonas (Lucas Dawson)-were excommunicated from their Puritan plantation because they were too religious even for pilgrims. Now in exile, they will soon find a piece of land on the edge of the forest to start a new life.
A few months after, the family managed to cope with their own farm, and Katherine also gave birth to their fifth child, Samuel. But after he secretly disappears one day, Samuel discovers an not-known evil hiding in the forest, an evil that tests the faith and loyalty of every member of the family in a way they will never forget.
Following the same low-budget horror fare as the Babadook, it follows and good night mom, the witch is the next indie fear movie, which unfortunately, like the three mentioned above, is marketed as the next “horror surprise”, while in fact it is supposed to offer something more substantial than inexpensive sensations and hard surfaces.
Even with his minimal budget, the first screenwriter / director Robert Eggers (who will direct the next remake of the classic of the silent horror of 1922 Nosferatu) is trying very hard to recreate the look and conviviality of the New England melting pot of the 17th century (the story takes place before the Salem Witch Trial). From the magnificent scenography and costume design, to the choice of actors (similar to the Bear in the Revenant, I will strongly ask to get the Black Goat, affectionately called “Black Phillip” here, an allusion to the best supporting actor), to unique dialogues, some of which have been adapted word for word from WRITTEN records, Eggers shows an attentive eye for every detail of the time.
Eggers dives deeper than most traditional horror movies, so, like a number of smaller and harder horror movies we’ve received in recent years, I’m afraid that the people launching the “scariest movie of the year” are traditional horror fans or slashers junkies thinking it’s something that’s not, only to be massively disappointed in the end.
However, of course, this should not stop you from watching this movie, unless you are simply looking for inexpensive sensations. The witch is frightened, but not in the ” BOO!!”Importance. Eggers slowly built a sense of fear that continues to the extent that things are going south to Thomasin and his family (the sound design flawless Adam Stein contributes to the fear and turmoil of his characters planted by the seed after a disaster, doubts and mistrust that slowly rot in the handling and the paranoia of religion. Much of the film’s horror stems from the uncertainty of what’s hiding in the dark or not, and Eggers uses light and shadow to capitalize on our fears, Jarin Blaschke’s bleak cinematography, and Mark Koven’s unsettling score thanking Stanley Kubrick’s “the Shining”.
While the ambiguity of whether the family is simply hysterical or whether it is really haunted by something wrong is averse to those who are looking for a definitive answer, the real horror found in this film does not come from a witch unit (although Eggers gives us a short, heartbreaking sequence in the forest with a possible title character), but from this family that is slowly tearing itself apart from the inside.
The cast, although relatively little known, is also strong here. As Patriarch William, Ralph Ineson (the Harry Potter series, Game of Thrones, the BBC version of The Office) – command the screen with a gravity-gravity deep. Despite his imposing presence, his desperation to appease his paranoid wife and his inability to take care of his family diminish his standing as the head of the family. Eggers makes a small faux pas when William abruptly changes his allegiance, but despite the hasty transition, Ineson’s performance is perfect. Kate Dickie (also from Game of Thrones) embodies the matriarch Katherine with enough anger and hysteria to set the world on fire.
Newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy offers a fantastic twist and effortlessly carries much of the film’s weight, which lends a lot of vulnerability and helplessness to Thomasin, the film’s main point of view. If such fragility is stimulated by the fact that almost all family members make her a scapegoat, she convincingly passes from tender to intense. Harvey Scrimshaw is as strong as the conflicted younger brother Caleb, whose wandering eyes can’t help but notice his sister’s flourishing in certain areas (to make matters worse for his sister on the other end of the spectrum, she also has to face her mother’s deep distrust). As a young actor, Scrimshaw not only has to tackle the temporal dialogue, but also some of the emotionally charged scenes, but he accepts the challenge and succeeds wonderfully.
The witch dispenses with inexpensive sensations and effects to emphasize mood and stimulating narration, and does unsettling wonders like a tense and slow horror exercise, and is hopefully the start of two potentially powerful careers for screenwriter/director Robert Eggers and star Anya Taylor-Joy. Fans of conventional horror films may not find anything interesting here, but those who prefer the horror genre, which dispels our fears by the power of suggestion, will be very pleased.