Review: 'The Witch' haunts you long after it's over

Posted Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 4:03 PM Central
Last updated Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 4:11 PM Central

by John Couture

If there's one thing that I have come to learn after nearly two decades in this industry, it's that few films ever live up to their hype. Usually, when a film looks amazing and my anticipation levels go skyward, the execution is such a letdown that I end up despising the film that I was once so eager to experience.

Thankfully, there are exceptions to this rule and I'm happy to say that The Witch is one of them. As this is a review, perhaps I should have been coy to encourage you to continue reading, but you can't accuse me of burying the lede.

Besides, who doesn't want to read a think piece/review about the history of witches in film and our national obsession with them?

It feels like every corner of the globe has their particular idea of horror. If you live in Japan, creepy emo girls that walk crazily up and down the walls terrorize you, while people in Romania have been living in fear of vampires for hundreds of years. The witch isn't an American horror invention, but it seems that we have spent the most time perfecting their unique brand of terror.

An American Obsession

The interesting thing is that truth and fiction co-mingle in our history, most notably in Salem, Massachusetts where the infamous Salem Witch Trials took place. Real people were accused, convicted and sentenced for practicing witchcraft. As we continually distance ourselves from that bleak period in our history, truth and folklore become even more muddied together and this is the story director Robert Eggers decided to bring to the screen.

Of course, the concept of witches isn't just limited to the New England area. The spiritual film descendant of The Witch, The Blair Witch Project, was set in Maryland and there's even the infamous story of the Bell Witch that haunts the backwoods in my area outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

No, the story of a witch isn't an American creation, but it one that we perfected and Robert Eggers' story might just be the best of the bunch. He is able to create a creepy, chilling and altogether haunting story by playing on our expectations and falling back upon the old adage that real horror is best found inside the audience's own heads.

He paints in broad strokes. Puritanical early immigrants to our country? Check. A villain that never actually appears on screen? Check. Plenty of quiet space for us to fill in with our imagination? Check. The fact that this was Eggers' first film is even more remarkable when you see the finished product.

Silence is Golden

The one technique that I think he uses to an absolute brilliance that I don't think enough filmmakers employ is the trick of extended black scenes. Filmmakers trip over themselves to fill the screen with as much scenery as possible for as long as possible, but horror films in particular really shine when they utilize the less is more philosophy.

I watched this film late at night with very little ambient light in the room and that only added to the ambiance of the film. It is meant to be creepy and dark and not precisely understood the first time through. The decision to use period-specific dialog despite it being very hard to understand is a great decision that really forces the viewer to pay close attention. The payoff comes when the viewer jumps twice as hard at the various "jump-out" moments.

In one of the featurettes, we learn that Robert Eggers included actual text from period accounts of witches and the trials to give it an authentic feel. It not only works from a period perspective, but it adds a level of creepiness that helps to sell the complete third act.

Not content to simply create just another witch movie, Robert Eggers has crafted a tale that expands the scope from purely supernatural forces to the very real and human monsters that reside in all of us. If there's a real monster in the film that Eggers is intent on setting the pitchforks and flames on it's the puritanical fanaticism that served as the foundation of many areas of this country.

At the beginning of the film, the main family's stringent religious beliefs result in their banishment from the relative safety of their community. As the film progresses, their deep faith continues to serve not as the stark contrast to the evil of The Witch, but rather as its own brand of evilness just as dark as Black Phillip.

In fact, I could go further here, but to do so would infringe upon spoiler territory and I wouldn't want to ruin anyone's viewing experience of the film. Suffice it to say, the film is more complex than just a simple monster movie. At the heart of the film is a family living in extreme circumstances and how they react to these circumstances plays as much a part of the resolution of the events in the film as anything else.

A Star is Born

I would be remiss if I didn't highlight the true breakout performance of the film. No, I'm not talking about Phillip the black goat, although he is certainly worthy of the effusive praise that has been heaped upon him. The actor that I'm referring to is Anya Taylor-Joy, who portrays the oldest child in the family Thomasin.

The film really revolves around Thomasin and even the most experienced of actresses would have difficulty pulling her off. And yet, Anya does so with much aplomb that is probably helped by the fact that this is her first movie. Her naivety really sells Thomasin's innocence at various parts of the film and allows the viewer to completely buy her performance as a young woman caught in the middle of circumstances beyond her control.

And yet, she is able to lead Thomasin through the flames as it were with a level of confidence that she herself is gaining as production unfurled. It will be interesting to see what lies ahead for Anya Taylor-Joy. A quick glance at her IMDb page demonstrates that she is rightfully in high demand right now and she has a handful of films set to debut in the next few years. I don't think I'm going out on too much of a limb to suggest that she has the potential to be the next big thing in Hollywood.

The Blu-ray contains various features including what is becoming a rare commodity these days, a director's commentary. The fact that Robert Eggers won the Sundance award for Best Director and that this film is truly his pet project having his insight into various scenes really adds to the overall enjoyment of the film on repeat viewings.

Another unique feature is a Q&A panel following a screening of the film in Salem, Massachusetts. Naturally, the audience is particularly sensitive to the witch folklore and the video, of which you can see a small snippet below, really adds a certain nuance of authenticity that is truly the bow on this present of a modern day horror classic set in the not-so-distant past.

The Witch is currently available on DVD and Blu-ray.