An isolated Puritan family in 1630s New England comes unraveled by the forces of witchcraft and possession.An isolated Puritan family in 1630s New England comes unraveled by the forces of witchcraft and possession.An isolated Puritan family in 1630s New England comes unraveled by the forces of witchcraft and possession.
- Awards
- 43 wins & 72 nominations
- Black Phillip
- (as Wahab Chaudhry)
- Lead Coven Witch
- (as Vivien Moore)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe spelling of the title "The VVitch" is how the word was written in the story's period because the letter "W" was not yet in common use at the time.
- GoofsOne mistake in the dialogue is the incorrect usage of the personal pronouns "Thou" and "You." During the 17th century, "You" was reserved for formal situations, and when one was addressing someone of higher status/rank. "Thou," on the other hand, was used in personal/informal settings and between peers and close relations (similar to the French Tu vs. Vous). Throughout the film, the characters use thou and you interchangeably; however, a close-knit family such as theirs would not have likely addressed each other with the formal "You."
- Quotes
Thomasin: Black Phillip, I conjure thee to speak to me. Speak as thou dost speak to Jonas and Mercy. Dost thou understand my English tongue? Answer me.
Black Phillip: What dost thou want?
Thomasin: What canst thou give?
Black Phillip: Wouldst thou like the taste of butter? A pretty dress? Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?
Thomasin: Yes.
Black Phillip: Wouldst thou like to see the world?
Thomasin: What will you from me?
Black Phillip: Dost thou see a book before thee?... Remove thy shift.
Thomasin: I cannot write my name.
Black Phillip: I will guide thy hand.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Film '72: Episode #45.3 (2016)
*** (out of 4)
Extremely well-made horror film set in New England during the 1600s as a family moves away from a colony and starts a new life in a house on the edge of some woods. One day the oldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) is watching her baby brother when something from the woods takes the child. Soon the family is torn apart by witchcraft.
Writer-director Robert Eggers' THE WITCH is the latest horror movie that is getting raves from critics and fans and it's also the newest movie to be called the "scariest of all time." I'm not going to sit here and say the movie scared me because it really didn't. With that said, THE WITCH really was a refreshing throwback to various European horror films from the late 60s and early 70s where atmosphere was the most important thing.
I really respected that Eggers tried to deliver a religious horror film that didn't deal with cheap shock effects and needless over-the-top exorcisms. There's really not any graphic violence or gore either. Instead of going for these cheap jump scares the director instead builds up a terrific setting and slowly plays out the action. The film clocks in at just over 90 minutes and rest assure that every single second is well-made, effective and it slowly builds up to its conclusion. I'm sure mainstream teenage viewers won't enjoy such a slow build-up but adults should enjoy this.
The atmosphere is certainly the selling point of the movie. I thought the director made you believe that you were watching something taking place in the 1600s and there's no question that the entire cast does a very good job in their parts. The atmosphere is certainly rich and thick and manages to set the film apart from most of the horror movies out there now. As I said, I wasn't scared by THE WITCH but it did a good job at slowly building up the drama and it plays out extremely well.
- Michael_Elliott
- Mar 9, 2016
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- La bruja
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,138,705
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $8,800,230
- Feb 21, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $40,423,945
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1