![]() ![]() William is convinced for a while that a wolf took him, and there’s mention of the animal’s tracks. And it’s this event that sets the tone for the film, because we’re never quite sure what happens to Sam. ![]() It’s this event, really, that begins the slow slide into horror. The desperate visit into the woods seems to set off a series of increasingly disturbing events, not least, the baby, Sam, disappears from right beneath Thomasin’s nose as she plays peek-a-boo with him. As the film begins, we learn that things are not going well: food is scarce, as some kind of rot has blighted the crops, and William and his oldest son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw) have been forced to venture into the woods to hunt. William, it seems, has had a disagreement with the all-powerful church, and so he and his wife, Katherine (Kate Dickie), and five children must move to the very edge of hard-cultivated land, their lives overshadowed by the wild, almost-impenetrable forest that borders their little farm. The Witch opens with a family’s excommunication from a New England village in the 1630s. Try taking your eyes off her when she’s on the screen. The acting is brilliant-especially Ralph Ineson as the father, William, and the luminescent Anya Taylor-Joy as his eldest daughter Thomasin. ![]() In case that puts you off, don’t let it! The Witch is also beautiful, viscerally disturbing, and downright scary. It will be loved by all kinds of fans for all kinds of reasons and it will be talked about for years and taught in film classes. With The Witch, Robert Eggers has written and directed one of those rare horror films that will, without a doubt, enter the canon of important and enduring horror films. ![]()
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