With Robert Eggers’ sophomore effort, The Lighthouse, expanding to more theaters this weekend, now seems like a great time to revisit The Witch. If you needed another reason, well, a spooky fall-set movie makes for perfect Halloween viewing. Of course, it also happens to be Witches Night Out in our 31 Days of Halloween celebration, and it doesn’t get much witchier than this one. Or much more historically accurate in terms of setting and details.
Synopsis: A religious dispute causes William and his family to be banished from their Puritan Plymouth Colony in 1630s New England. They relocate to an isolated farm at the edge of a vast wilderness. When his newborn son mysteriously vanishes, with a wooded witch possibly to blame, the family begins to turn on one another.
Key Players: Ralph Ineson is William, the excommunicated patriarch of the doomed family. Kate Dickie plays his wife, Katherine. Anya Taylor-Joy is the lead as eldest daughter Thomasin. Harvey Scrimshaw plays eldest son Caleb, while Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson are spiteful twins Mercy and Jonas. Bathsheba Garnett is credited as the Witch, and Charlie the goat is the film’s mascot Black Phillip.
Why It’s on the List: The Witch is a period piece with a period-appropriate pace. Meaning it’s a slow burn that’s proven divisive with viewers. But for those on board, Eggers’ debut offers up a strange and stunning unraveling of its characters. While the psychological horror takes center stage for much of the narrative, the entire thing kicks off with a newborn baby’s kidnapping – the baby is then pulverized down to a paste to make a flying unguent. This witch isn’t messing around. Besides, who doesn’t want to live deliciously this Halloween?
Whoa Black Phillip: We’ll never look at goats the same, thanks to Black Phillip. This clip doesn’t just tease his role in the story, but it demonstrates just how grating twins Mercy and Jonas can be.
Where You Can Watch: The Witch is currently streaming on Netflix and Kanopy.
