That crazy witchcraft

Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "The Witch." Image courtesy A24.

Two days after watching “The Witch” and I can’t decide whether or not I actually like it. It's interesting to say the least, sometimes a little sillier than it intends to be and often overbearing in how it approaches the main objective of scaring the bejesus out of the audience. Whether it accomplished that objective depends on what scares you: the occasional creature popping out of nowhere (usually a mirror) or watching a family self destruct in a discomfiting fashion. If it's the latter, then “The Witch” is heartlessly effective; if it’s the former than prepare to be teased.

“The Witch” sets its premise quickly, with the father of the Calvinist family, William (Ralph Ineson), effectively getting his family banished from a well protected camp in the new world sometime in the 1630s. Joined by his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), eldest son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), twins Mercy and Jonas (Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson) and infant Sam, William finds a plot of land near the woods and builds a small farm to start their new life. Everything starts off pretty well until Sam is abducted by a clandestine witch in the middle of a game of peek-a-boo with Taylor-Joy. Thinking a wolf took her, the family's life begins to fall asunder when the crops start failing and the livestock acts strange as weird things begin to happen around the family.

Not much more than that happens in “The Witch.” The plot is intentionally thin, more of a necessity to deliver chills than the crux of the film. Writer/director Robert Eggers’ main interest with this film is to frighten his viewers, and he digs pretty deep into his bag of tricks to pull that off, from intimidating animals and the woodland setting to an over-the-top score and a few first act/third act set ups. All of this buildup though doesn't really go anywhere. “The Witch” sports one or two traditional scares and really ends up being more weird than scary.

The real horror comes from how easy it is for a family to turn against itself when strange calamity occurs. Sam's kidnapping is the first in a series of calamities to reveal how little the family members truly care about one another; rather, their reason to be is to atone for their earthly sins in the slim chance of entry to heaven. Religion is an easy scapegoat, especially given the faith of choice is the dreary New England trademark based on predeterminism and constant sinning, but there's a deeper issue to that as well. Religion, for “The Witch,” is more of an excuse to act on the human feelings of fear and paranoia and hate when life goes astray and deleterious emotions take over for love or rational thought. Whatever faith or philosophy is practiced, people often act out of fear and self interest when things go to pot, and Eggers exploits that idea to deliver a strong rebuttal against the concept of family being a strong enough bond to stave that off.

And yet, Eggers undermines his own point in his presentation. “The Witch” literally features a witch, a being with supernatural power that has it out for the people who have intruded into her domain. The audience knows this titular spell caster exists and is introduced to her in the first act, ending any suspense as to the possible causes of all these terrible things happening to this family. Without the possibility of a family member – posited as either Taylor-Joy or the twins – actually being in league with the devil, the audience doesn't feel the same amount of paranoia as the family does. Eggers keeps viewers a step removed from the drama, and that distance hinders their involvement and even interest in the proceedings.

That’s the downside to presenting this as a folktale, which sets the tone for how the story will unravel and the inherent need to accept the supernatural elements. Still, “The Witch” earns credit for offering a fair number of chills and a discomfiting experience, and Eggers explores the central concept with aplomb. It's not a milestone film or the next great horror film, but it's interesting, and interesting is always worth at least a cursory glance.

Review: Three and a half out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: R

Run time: 92 minutes

Genre: Horror/Thriller 
 

Ask Away

Target audience: Scary movie nerds who are really really interested in New England folklore.

Take the whole family?: Kids will get freaked out by the violence and the rather notable score.

Theater or Netflix?: This film would work best in a midnight screening. It at least has to be nighttime to have the full effect.

Is this a horror film?: Writer/director Robert Eggers addressed this topic after the screening and essentially said it is, but he doesn't give a fuck what people call it. I’m a little on the fence about it; it doesn’t have the same type of rhythm or intensity as something like “The Babadook,” but it is close enough in vibe to “Rosemary’s Baby” that it still fits into the genre, just barely.

Watch this as well?: Trade witches for aliens and “The Witch” is pretty similar to “The Thing,” which is always worth seeing. Also watch on of my favorite recent animated flicks,“ParaNorman,” for a family friendly retelling of the perils of supernatural abilities.