This film follows a family in Colonial New England after they have been banished from their settlement. While trying to be self-sufficient, a mysterious entity inside the woods threatens their way of life.

What’s impressive about this film is that it’s the directorial debut of Robert Eggers. At last year’s Sundance Film Festival, he won the Directing Award and the film itself was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic category. After watching this film, I can see why.

It seems that modern horror films rely more on jump scares rather than building tension. Thankfully, this film’s greatest asset is its use of atmosphere. There is a sense of danger throughout the movie but we rarely see the threat. The film has some great cinematography, especially in scenes that take place within the forest. It is both beautiful and haunting at the same time. The film also has some good performances, especially from Ralph Ineson and Anya Taylor-Joy as the father and eldest daughter respectively. There is a tension between these two actors that is very believable. However, the weakest link in the cast are the actors playing the twins.

However, the main problem with this movie is its pacing. “The Witch” doesn’t get the plot rolling right away and the film suffers as a result. Another criticism of the movie is that the dialogue may confuse some people due to the 17^th century English, however, if you can understand the works of Shakespeare you shouldn’t have a problem with the vocabulary. 

Overall, this is an impressive, suspenseful debut by director Robert Eggers and I hope to see more movies from him in the near future.

SCORE: 4/5