The Witch (2015) was a film that I had on my to watch list for a very long time. It fits within a series of horror films that were considered “elevated horror” that focused more on the psychological and supernatural horror, and had strong folklore elements woven into them. Other examples of these would be Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019). The latter example also falls squarely into a genre which was dubbed “folk horror”, and I would say that The Witch falls into that category as well.
The film stars a young Anya Taylor-Joy, as well as the woefully underappreciated Kate Dickie and Ralph Ineson. They portray an English family who have moved to New England to start a new, pious life. They lead a secluded life far away from the less puritanical other settlers. The family consists of the father and mother, Thomasin (Taylor-Joy), her younger brother Caleb, her younger twin brother and sister, and her youngest baby brother Samuel. The family starts to experience a bout of bad luck after Samuel disappears while in the care of Thomasin; a bad harvest, empty traps set out to catch game, the family dog gets mutilated and dies, and several other things. This causes a tremendous amount of grief and discord. When Caleb ends up disappearing for a few days and is found naked and delirious, he seems to be under a supernatural spell. During all this trouble a lot of pressure is put on Thomasin to support her parents, take care of the children, and do her chores around the farm, and is constantly annoyed by the twins.
The slowly building horror in this film is incredibly well executed, and it continuously keeps you guessing about the possible supernatural nature of the family’s bad luck. I really enjoyed a rather refreshing take on a tired trope, while simultaneously feeling like this could well be historically accurate reflection of what might have preceeded the witch trials at Salem. Well worth the watch.