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'The Witch'

Review

By Neil GregoryPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Contains Spoliers

Too often modern horror movies are not scary in the traditional sense. Classic horror films would unnerve you and stay with you for weeks after viewing them. Modern films tend to have people running around in the dark, screaming with dodgy camera work and every scare in the film is down to loud music cues and flash editing. In other words, the story itself isn’t scary or getting a reaction. The filmmakers have to use simple tools to get a response from the audience.

Robert Eggers's stunning debut film drips with dread from start to finish, innocuous lines near the start of the film have hidden depths as the story progresses. It's almost hard to call the film horror in the traditional sense, as there are very few jump scares, very little gore, and the film is edited at a languid pace that isn’t afraid to take its time and show you everything.

Dread would be the key word here. From the off-kilter discordant music to the sometimes strange shot choice, every aspect of the film is designed to feel slightly off and of the "other."

The cast is anchored by Game of Thrones veterans Ralph Ineson & Kate Dickie as the god-fearing parents and newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy does fantastic work as the oldest child, Thomasin (only now do I realise she has the word ‘sin’ in her name!’), who on the cusp of womanhood is struggling with her place in the family and life in general.

Caleb is the second oldest child whose furtive glances at his older sister are noticed by his mother early on, planting the seeds for the meltdown of blame and recrimination that happens later on. Then there are the two twins Jonas & Mercy and their pet goat they’ve named Black Phillip, which all seems perfectly innocuous near the start of the film.

So let's briefly talk about Black Phillip without any spoilers. Easily one of the best on-screen goat performances of all time! I’ve already seen Black Phillip T-shirts and kid's lunch boxes (though that last one may have been photoshopped) and he truly is one of the stars of the film. In fact, knowing Hollywood, I could easily see some stupid executive watching the film and then going, "well it's a bit slow and nothing really happened but let's make a spin off with an evil goat, it’ll make millions" as they completely miss the point of the film.

And the point of the film is the slow destruction of the family and descent into madness for many of the characters. Kate Dickies's performance is very reminiscent of her mad character of Lysa Arryn from Game of Thrones. Ralph Ineson's William begins to doubt his convictions and shows his weakness as a man while the children all turn on each other, accusing each other off being responsible for the evil that happens.

Very early on, we are shown the witch in her lair, so we know she is real and will keep tormenting the family as the story progresses; however, what the family does to each other in their panic is almost worse than the witch's machinations.

We view most of the film through the eyes of Thomasin as she is the most relatable character for the audience, and Taylor-Joy gives a fantastic performance throughout, the wide-eyed scared girl early on, then later in an argument with her younger siblings, shows the potential for malice before she flips back to the innocent girl. The look of heartbreak on her face when she overhears her parents discussing their plans for her and the impassioned pleas when she is accused of being a witch.

I’ve read split opinions on the film with some critics saying it's the best horror film of the last ten years, and others accusing it of being all surface and no substance. I’d definitely lean towards it being one of the best horror films I’ve seen in recent memory; however, I’d also acknowledge that it's not for everyone. The slow pacing and lack of jump scares or gore might actually put off some horror fans (I guess if Saw or Paranormal Activity 8 is more your style). The ending definitely divided people in the cinema with more than a few exclaiming, "that's it?" at the end, but to me, the ending was perfect.

Overall, if you want an atmosperic horror film with great cinematography and music, fantastic performances and direction, then The Witch is for you.

Rating 4/5

movie review
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About the Creator

Neil Gregory

Film and TV obsessive / World Traveller / Gamer / Camerman & Editor / Guitarist

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