A favorite of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and distributed by A24, "The Witch", or "The VVitch" as the cover suggests, is about a Purtian family suffering from the paranoia, religious zealotry, and evil supernatural forces. It is an apt representation of how brutal life was for the settlers in New England in the 17th century and how easily their fragile existence could become undone. The attention to detail as well as the use of language is incredible, although it is difficult to follow at times. Watching the film a second time through helps illuminate subtle plot points that may have been overlooked the first time through.
The story is straight forward and chilling, as it follows William, his pregnant wife Katherine, elder daughter Thomasin, elder son Caleb, and twins Mercy and Jonas attempt to build a life outside of the New England plantation that they have been exiled from. The family is forced to leave due William's conceited pride, and so they leave and build a farm on the edge of a vast forest. Katherine gives birth to a son that they named Samuel. just when life for the family seems to be going well, Samuel goes missing while being watched by Thomasin; Katherine becomes depressed and begins praying all day long, hinting that Thomasin is responsible for losing Samuel as well as her favorite silver cup. Mercy playfully suggests that she's a witch and that Black Phllip, their goat, talks to her and her brother Jonas. Mercy then blames Thomasin for losing their baby brother, so Thomasin tells her little sister that she's the witch to scare her sister away. When Caleb goes missing in the forest after he and Thomasin went to check on their hunting traps, she is blamed yet again. After another tragedy, William's zealotry reaches it's climax as he locks Thomasin and the twins in the barn with Black Phillp, to allow God to sort things out.
My favorite horror film of the year so far.
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