Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Anya-Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas Dawson, Bathsheba Garnett, Sarah Stephens, Julian Richings, Wahab Chaudrey.
It is in the richness of performance, in the attention to the madness to come as the idea of witchcraft in the young colonies and towns that made up the New England Commonwealth, which makes The Witch such a startling and intriguing film in which to savour.
The questions and in which the 17th Century Pilgrim Fathers, those that left their idea of religious tyranny behind in the shadows of the reign of King James I were steeped in the folklore of the old country and arguably the memories of what their King had written about in his book Demonology, it is no wonder that these people who had braved travelling aboard a ship for weeks on end across thousands of miles of ocean and the hardships of fostering a new land with guarded Native American eyes watching their every move, were more than superstitious and wary of what lay beyond nature and the woods.
It is a feeling of darkness, of exposed confinement in Robert Eggers work that captures with debut brilliance the self imposed fear of the unknown, of the madness to come in the Salem Witch Trials and the despair of suspicion that could be cast upon a single individual through envy, jealousy, rage or hate; the accusation of witchcraft that would send terror in just a couple of generations through this new community. It is in this pre-climate of fear that Robert Eggers brings the simple tale to life but one that is utterly and devastatingly filled with the first flows of genius film making.
The feeling of confinement is enhanced by the relatively small cast who excel in the space provided by the wide and expansive shots and the tightness of the camera closing in on each pained expression as guilt and suffering come into play. In Anya Taylor-Joy, Katie Dickie and Harvey Scrimshaw the film captures the rawness of their situation and the misery and plight with gracious ease. It is though in Ralph Ineson, who gives perhaps the finest performance of his career as the puritanical father William, the true depth of fear that all he once understood is crashing down upon him and his admission that pride has made The Witch and Satan appear in their midst such a brutal revelation.
A Folk Horror film that reminds us just how close we are even now to being seen as taking part in witch hunts that are not there, a film told with sincerity and truth in its heart, The Witch will leave audiences clambering for more of the same genre.
Ian D. Hall