Horror movie funs have been fortunate in recent years to The Witch hit their screens, they wouldn’t be left out when they want to feel frightening and jangle their nerves. Directed by Robert Eggers, I felt somehow uncomfortable during some moments watching the movie with a tangible feeling of fear. The movie gives an account about a 17th century New England moralistic family, confronting successive creepy events upon setting up a farm close to a menacing forest.
After been banished through a religious misunderstanding with the elders of the village, William (Ralph Ineson), the husband of Katherine (Kate Dickie) with their five children decided to start a new way of life by establishing a farm away from the town. The five children include Tomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and her twin brother Jonas (Lucas Dawson), and the last-born Samuel. The shocking incident that transpired on one fateful day was the disappearance of Samuel.
Sadness and growing fear unfold as the family losses composure; they had to battle with a whole town and thereafter face the reality of mysterious disappearance of little Samuel. To make we the audience feel actual horrific moment, the director (Robert Eggers) and the cinematographer (Jarin Blaschke) create a dark, frightening image and take us there. The Witch features a situation where each moment stays until the suspense becomes frightening, creating a sense of sadness from the beginning and keeping it throughout.
Even though the production style is somewhat simple, the director (Robert Eggers) does an outstanding work of presenting the era; not a single thing appears out of place. The choice of accent used for the language clearly depicts how we are placed in the time for which the story supposedly happened. Though some viewers might find it hard to understand everything that is said in the movie because the sound of the language itself is so compelling to understand every word.
The actors play a vital role in making us understand the meaning and relevance of the conversation; they did a very good job to convince us Being parents in such situation isn’t something mere to cope with, here, Ineson and Dickie are forceful and deeply sad; it’s terrible to witness them slowly decline into complete impotence as parents. Taylor-Joy does a good job as the tragic heroine, the family’s most realistic member and, as a result, the one who is most likely to get them angry. Scrimshaw gives an outstanding performance, especially in a dramatic and intense scene at the close of the movie.
Personally, The Witch is not so much horrifying as it is strongly disturbing. It places the one watching in the state of the naive and fearful who find it difficult to figure out the reality around them, as well as those whose fear may be completely reasonable.
