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| REVIEW OF "The Witch" (2016) |
Director: Robert Eggers (Directorial Debut)
Actors: Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Dawson Lucas, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson
Screenplay: Robert Eggers
Music: Mark Korven
Producers: Jay VanHoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, Daniel Beckerman, Rodrigo Teixeira
Duration: 92 Minutes
Production Company: A24
“The Witch” (2016) is like finding a needle in a haystack. What a way to deliver true moments of anxiety and/or fear to the audience—chilling them to the bone! A skillful handling of characters and a gloomy atmosphere, along with chiaroscuro-heavy cinematography, make watching this film an absolute delight. And what better lesson for the big studios than to have an independent film from the up-and-coming A24 prove that with just a few elements and a solid script, the suspense or horror genre can remain relevant and genuinely scare or haunt an audience.
Set around 1630, a family exiled from the community they had long belonged to finds a new place to live in a desolate location. The family is led by William, who excels more in writing than physical labor, Katherine, the hysterical mother, and their children Thomasin, Caleb, Mercy, and Jonas, plus a newborn baby. Predictably, after a quiet afternoon playing with the baby, he suddenly disappears, with no trace left and no clue as to who might have taken him—until a mysterious, dirty, old-looking woman appears. William eventually calls off the search and tries to calm Katherine. From there, many unexpected events test the family, the most unsettling involving Caleb and an encounter he has in the forest.
That’s as far as we’ll go in summarizing the debut film of Robert Eggers, who also wrote the screenplay. To the average viewer, the story might seem like a slow account of a troubled family. But Eggers structured it this way so the atmosphere and character development would build gradually. This film doesn’t need bloody scenes, guts spilled across the screen, or ruthless villains. It uses its limited production elements to generate psychological horror in the best tradition of Rosemary’s Baby (1969). Music also plays a key role, blending electronic sounds with traditional instrumentation, and the cinematography is effective with many close-ups and forest shots that heighten the tension.
When it comes to acting, Eggers didn’t rely on major stars, but their performances are convincing within the context of the characters. You can sense each character’s moral complexity as they face the events that befall them as a family.
The Witch (2016) is the sum of several cinematic elements used in the best possible tradition—without needing massive visual effects or multi-million-dollar budgets. American independent cinema continues to provide strong alternatives to big studios, with directors (in this case, a first-timer) who have a clear vision of their story and what they want to share with audiences. There will be those (living in their ignorance, thinking that a horror film must always make you scream and jump in your seat) who claim the film isn’t scary enough. But its aim is to show respect for a genre that has been so undermined and lacking in innovation today.
RATING FOR “THE WITCH” (2016): EXCELLENT
★★★★