The Witch Review

This review comes from my Letterboxd profile, where I write reviews like this for every movie I see.

So, funny story before I get into this review, in order to watch The Lobster, I had to sign up for a 7-day free trial of Showtime through Amazon Prime. You better believe I'm utilizing those 7 free days to the best of my ability, so you're gonna be seeing a spike in reviews from me over the next couple of days as I skim through Showtime's catalog to see what I've been wanting to watch for a long time and now can because of this free trial. Man, to think all of this started because of my confusion over a Dua Lipa music video (check my previous review if you want to read what I'm talking about). Okay, enough funny business, on with the serious review.

I have a very strange history with horror films. Through a combination of parents that wanted to make sure I wasn't exposed to disturbing things as a kid and my own fear of seeing even the slightest hint of blood for most of my pre-teen years, I'm not very well-versed in the genre. It's taken me until this year to watch classics such as Silence of the Lambs and The Shining because I simply wasn't up to the task before high school, and I still need to catch up on films such as The Exorcist, Poltergeist, The Omen, Halloween, Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, you name it and I probably haven't seen it. Out of all of the horror films that I've seen so far, I feel like The VVItch (and yes, I'm spelling it as it's spelled on the poster because I feel like it) has been the most cerebral for me. I can't recall a straight-up genre horror that has left an imprint on my mind as this has. Sure, Get Out left an incredible impact on me and I adore that movie, but that was more because of the themes prevalent in that film and how the screenplay utilized them into a horror plot. Here, this entire film and the way it conjures its scares, thrills, tension, atmosphere, and imagery is now completely glued to my brain and I don't think it's ever going to leave.

Every single actor in this movie is phenomenal. This film pretty much only focuses on six characters throughout the majority of the runtime, so every single one of them has to be engaging in some way. Anya Taylor-Joy proved herself with this film role, as this is actually her DEBUT FILM ROLE!! At this point, as a personal aside, I've definitely cemented her as a celebrity crush, and a big part of the reason why is because I've appreciated the performances I've seen of hers. Admittedly, I've still got Emma and The Queen's Gambit to catch up on, but in Glass and Split, she did a great job and here, she gives what is my favorite performance of hers so far. She has an absolutely fantastic back-and-forth dynamic with every other member of the family, and the dynamic of the family in general is nail-biting and tense all the way through. I have to say, my favorite performances in this entire film, however, might have been Kate Dickie and Harvey Scrimshaw, who were both phenomenal in different ways. Dickie is terrifying, constantly instilling fear in the hearts of her family with a simple gaze, and can someone please explain to me how in the world Scrimshaw hasn't been cast in ANYTHING else?! I mean, he's had a couple smaller film roles here and there, sure, but come on, how are more people not aware of this kid? He was absolutely phenomenal in this movie, especially during one scene in particular where he really gets to let it all out.

At its core, this film is about family and religious tension, how a Puritan family could tear itself apart with the fears surrounding them as they struggle to come to terms with their faith. The film is emphasized to be a New England folktale, and this film bleeds colonial New English sensibilities in every single frame. The costumes are emasculate, the scenery and cinematography are absolutely gorgeous, and the dialogue is written completely in Early Modern English, apparently mostly taken from actual accounts of witchcraft written at the time. In every frame, these actors sell that they're in colonial America and that capturing of location and time period makes the film feel so much more engaging. I LOVE the commitment to the original English of the time, although I don't know if I would have been able to follow along as well as I did with the subtitles on.

Out of all of this, though, my favorite part of this film is how it scares its audience. Through Mark Korven's incredible score (while not amazing musically is absolutely pitch-perfect in the context of this film), Robert Egger's tight direction, and some of the most meticulous editing I've ever seen (or heard) in a film, there's this constant sense of dread that is set within the first five minutes of the film and never once falters. It just keeps building and building, occasionally spiking as the film smash cuts to a close-up of a person or an animal as a loud noise startles you into thinking something's about to happen. Once the final 20 minutes of this film occur, the film goes absolutely insane and lets loose all of that tension that has been building up in the audience's very being for the entirety of its 90-minute. It's a film that doesn't let you breathe, a film that constantly disturbs you with haunting imagery that always impacts you with just how... off it feels. Every moment in this film just stuck with me, and there's something about it I simultaneously love and hate.

The VVItch is one of those movies where, as you're watching it for the first time, you're not always able to piece everything together coherently, and the film is perfectly okay with that. There's a difference between sloppy editing and direction and writing in a film that leaves out important information and particular filmmaking that subtly tells the audience, "All the pieces are here, but we're gonna let you figure out how to work them out yourself." This film is most certainly in that latter category. Incredible direction, brilliant commitment to writing in Early Modern English, a haunting score, beautiful scenery, incredible performances, and some of the best sound and picture editing I've ever seen or heard in a film (seriously, wear headphones while watching this movie, it's gonna seriously trip you up), this is a unique experience that I won't soon forget. I'm so excited to check out The Lighthouse -- in fact, I watched this film just so that I could watch Eggers's films in order -- and I really hope Eggers continues this career trajectory for years to come.

Letter Grade: A+

Alright, I'm actually coming at you with another review immediately after this one -- I also just finished watching Dark Waters, so a review for that film will be out momentarily.