A trailer that promised more than just jump scares
Audience expectations were largely up in the air when ‘The Witch’ released its first teaser. The trailer offered little in the way sound, interspersed with a few whispers over soothing candlelight or videos of a family wandering the wilds of colonial America. It certainly wasn’t the kind of overproduced horror the film industry was used to pumping out; this was something much slower, far stranger, and brimming with the essence of deep rooted folklore. The online community was ablaze with conversation: Was this the dawn of an entirely new stylistic approach to horror, or simply a film destined to disappoint those entrenched in the era of quick jump scares?
A family unraveling in the wilderness
The movie explores the new world of 1630 New England, illustrating the excommunication of a Puritan family. They are made to dwell along the
periphery of a secluded, moon shadowed thicket. The family intriguing tale slowly progresses to a notion of boredom, mental instability and harsh internal discord. The conflict evidently revolves around the
eldest daughter, Thomasin, who is said to practice witchcraft upon the arrival of a series of unfortunate events. The transformation of demure, helpless girls who
is subject to irrational blame, to the monumental character who is unshackled to the truth is both distinctly wrong, yet strangely uplifting.
Thomasin and Anya Taylor-Joy’s breakthrough
An actress who possesses the ability to portray pure innocence, frustration, and later change was needed to play the role of Thomasin. Anya Taylor-Joy was cast in the role despite being a relative newcomer in the industry and having only a few credits to her name. On the other hand, Anya had her own personal battles. Anya was raised in a multicultural and multi-national setting which often gave rise to feelings of being different. This emotional displacement profoundy resonated with Thomasin, a character who had to balance her thirst for freedom with her sense of duty towards her family.
Anya spoke in her engagements about how the character of Thomasin was a lone figure, and how much she had to draw from her own life in order to recreate the feeling of being othered. This was a deeply moving performance and essentially described as the face of horror for the new generation which of course stemmed other roles in films like Split and series like The Queen’s Gambit.
Symbolism woven into every shadow
The Witch seems to take on the form of a Thematic horror film, where supernatural evil lurks in the woods. Robert Eggers’ script goes deeper and takes a stab at The Witch as more of a growing, multi-faceted symbol of female autonomy, naked desire, and the dread of breaking away from stifling belief.
Black Phillip, the goat that roams the edges of the family farm, quickly went on to gain mythical status. The line, “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?” is so masterfully spoken that it chills the bones while at the same time moistens the tongue; it becomes a tool of desire and selfishness. The online debates concerning Black Phillip and his true identity, whether he was the physical manifestation of the devil or simply a figment of Thomasin’s imagination, became heated.
A director obsessed with authenticity
Robert Eggers showed his obsession with perfection and a desire for The Witch to reach the highest artistic standard possible during his feature film debut. The dialogue was painstakingly constructed from 17th century writing; the actors wore authentic 17th century clothing that had been fastidiously hand-stitched; and the farmhouse was constructed with period-accurate tools.
This approach constructed a unique verisimilitude in the film, but resulted in significant hardship in production. The actors described the film shoot as rigorously inhumane as they were forced to remain idle in rural Ontario in sub-zero temperatures while repeating lines from the dialogue, which had been meticulously crafted to suit the period. The authenticity you see in film was made possible due to the above mentioned hardships. The discomfort captured in film was not solely due to acting; it was more than that.
The cast behind the paranoia
In the role of William, the father, Ralph Ineson conveyed both gravitas and vulnerability. Ineson, who also starred in the Game of Thrones and the Harry Potter films, stated that William’s inner turmoil in trying to protect his family mirrored his own inner feelings as a father. In the role of Katherine, a mother who is overcome with grief, Kate Dickie, as is her tendency, again went deep, summoning visceral, motherly grief that was both horrifying and deeply sympathetic.
The entire cast, as a single unit, managed to create a new dimension to the story. All the arguing, the tension, the loss of faith, the skepticism; instead of appearing as scripted lines, they sounded like an authentic family in the midst of a crisis.
Fan reactions and the great divide
“The Witch” at Sundance was praised by critics for its work as “pure atmospheric horror,” however, general audiences were put off by the work. Some described it as a “masterpiece,” while others complained it was “too slow.” Fans or skeptics were trying to “defend it as high art” or dismiss it as “pretentious.” Such was the disinterest to stimulate hot debates on Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter.
Strangely, the controversy surrounding the film gave it a cult status. Fans began to wear the witch as a ‘badge of taste.’ You were ‘part of the initiated’ if ‘you got it.’ The internet was flooded with the Black Phillip merchandise, tattoos, and memes which ensured the film’s position in modern horror culture.
Secrets from behind the black veil
One of the lesser-known production stories involves the goat himself, Black Phillip. Far from the menacing figure on screen, he was notoriously difficult to train, often attacking cast members. Ralph Ineson joked that working with him was “scarier than any witch.” At one point, the goat even broke Ineson’s ribs during filming, a fact that fans love to bring up as proof of the film’s cursed energy.
Another detail often overlooked is how Eggers shot the film almost entirely in natural light, with scenes illuminated by candles alone. It wasn’t just a stylistic choice — it immersed the cast in the gloom, making every frame feel like a painting from a forgotten era.
A horror that lingers after the credits
Why does it seem from the final scenes of the movie’s narrative that Thomasin had left her previous life behind? Her new life seems to spell either empowerment of some sort or her very own form of damnation. Is she liberated or has she surrendered? This ambiguity, the film’s most powerful element, does not offer these resolutions, adamantly letting the audience address their own most dreaded aspirations and longings.
The Witch’s reputation was not that of a blockbuster created to entertain the masses. Still, it’s reputation does stem from the ability to disturb long after the film has ended. It demonstrated the more subtle, more metaphorically complex, and more rooted in humanity the elements of horror film making could become. It was the first film which marked the shaping of a legacy of risk-taking and innovation in the works of Anya Taylor-Joy and Robert Eggers. Exactly like Thomasin, who stepped into the woods and made an equally daring move.
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