A widowed mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorizes the world, a man has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son. Then a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge.
Director:
Trey Edward Shults
Stars:
Joel Edgerton,
Christopher Abbott,
Carmen Ejogo
Washed-up true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt finds a box of super 8 home movies that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose work dates back to the 1960s.
New England, 1630: William and Katherine try to lead a devout Christian life, homesteading on the edge of an impassible wilderness, with five children. When their newborn son mysteriously vanishes and their crops fail, the family begins to turn on one another. 'The Witch' is a chilling portrait of a family unraveling within their own sins, leaving them prey for an inconceivable evil.
According to cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, the film was shot mostly with available and natural light. See more »
Goofs
One mistake in the dialogue is the incorrect usage of the personal pronouns "Thou" and "You".
During the 17th century, "You" was reserved for formal situations, and when one was addressing someone of higher status/rank. "Thou", on the other hand, was used in personal/informal settings and between peers and close relations (similar to French Tu vs. Vous).
Throughout the film, the characters use thou and you interchangeably, however a close-knit family such as theirs would not have likely addressed each other with the formal "You". See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
William:
[before the court]
What went we out into this wilderness to find? Leaving our country, kindred, our fathers houses? We have travailed a vast ocean. For what? For what?
Governor:
We must ask thee to be silent!
William:
Was it not for the pure and faithful dispensation of the Gospels, and the Kingdom of God?
Old Slater:
No More! We are *your* judges, and not you ours!
William:
I cannot be judged by false Christians, for I have done nothing, save preach Christ's true Gospel.
Governor:
Must you continue to dishonor the laws of the ...
[...] See more »
THE WITCH is, in a word, unsettling. Horror films don't normally have an effect on me, much less scare me, but this one was unnerving in a very palpable way. It's about a Puritan family who are banished from their village for an unspecified religious offense, and subsequently move to a location bordering a forest. While there, repeated misfortune and isolation create the perfect storm of religious paranoia over whether one or more of them are possessed by the devil. What THE WITCH masterfully does is to create this tense atmosphere and maintain it over nearly the entire length of the film. Whether it be odd/surreal imagery, slow and deliberate camera-work, or an eerie score reminiscent of Ligeti's "Atmospheres" (used in Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY), all of it is used to brilliant effect and should be capable of rattling even the most seasoned viewer, especially if they have a religious background/upbringing (as I did). In fact, I sensed a lot of Kubrick here; not just 2001, but also THE SHINING. Not surprisingly, they share some thematic elements. The performances were also pitch perfect and very believable for the characters the actors played and, although this might prove hard to get by for some, they speak in period-authentic language/accents. Ultimately, the film is rather ambiguous as to whether or not the events occur in the manner you see them, but that's the beauty of it: like religion itself, THE WITCH is open to interpretation. And as such, it establishes itself (in my opinion) as one of the best horror films of the last 10 years.
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THE WITCH is, in a word, unsettling. Horror films don't normally have an effect on me, much less scare me, but this one was unnerving in a very palpable way. It's about a Puritan family who are banished from their village for an unspecified religious offense, and subsequently move to a location bordering a forest. While there, repeated misfortune and isolation create the perfect storm of religious paranoia over whether one or more of them are possessed by the devil. What THE WITCH masterfully does is to create this tense atmosphere and maintain it over nearly the entire length of the film. Whether it be odd/surreal imagery, slow and deliberate camera-work, or an eerie score reminiscent of Ligeti's "Atmospheres" (used in Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY), all of it is used to brilliant effect and should be capable of rattling even the most seasoned viewer, especially if they have a religious background/upbringing (as I did). In fact, I sensed a lot of Kubrick here; not just 2001, but also THE SHINING. Not surprisingly, they share some thematic elements. The performances were also pitch perfect and very believable for the characters the actors played and, although this might prove hard to get by for some, they speak in period-authentic language/accents. Ultimately, the film is rather ambiguous as to whether or not the events occur in the manner you see them, but that's the beauty of it: like religion itself, THE WITCH is open to interpretation. And as such, it establishes itself (in my opinion) as one of the best horror films of the last 10 years.