If you’re looking for something a little left field of your typical horror movie, look no further than The Witch (2015). This period horror movie, the directing debut of Robert Eggers, follows a Puritan family as they move into the wilderness of the New England frontier during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Strange happenings soon tear the family apart as paranoia, forbidden sexuality, and mystic darkness take hold.
Read on to find out why you should watch The Witch today.
1. The acting is out of the world!
The Witch stars Anya Taylor-Joy. Need we say more? Scream queen Taylor-Joy has starred in an impressive roster of horror flicks like Split (2016), Thoroughbreds (2017), and Glass (2019), as well as the massively successful Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit (2020). In The Witch, she plays young Puritan daughter Thomasin with such haunting subtlety that you never quite know whether she’s a victim or a monster. Taylor-Joy is also supported by towering performances from Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, and scene-stealing child actor Harvey Schrimshaw.
2. It’s not your conventional horror movie
Many watchers took issue with The Witch for failing to meet conventional standards of what makes a good horror movie. Its slow pace, ambiguous ending, and dependence more on psychological horror than action scenes certainly puts it out of the norm. But cannibalism, demonic possession, and devil worship more than qualifies it as a genuine horror-fest in our books. And if anything, these qualities only set The Witch above the rest as a chillingly effective and inventive horror movie.
3. You’ll have nightmare fuel and questions for weeks
True to its time period and source material, The Witch offers no clear answers. Who was the culprit and who did the carnage? Who was The Witch? Prepare to spend many a late night diving down internet rabbit holes and discussion forums in search of answers that are deliberately and deliciously obscured.
For a truly elevated horror experience, watch The Witch today.
