Review Tuesday: The Witch (Original title: The VVitch: A New-England Folktale) 2015

 

The Witch

(Original title: The VVitch: A New-England Folktale)

2015

An early 17th century family is banished from their community for their strict views religious views ends up prayed upon by magic and witchcraft. 

We first attempted to see this movie YEARS ago based on the reviews of friends. At the time, however, the pathetic speakers in our television wasn't able to handle the deep-bass voice of Ralph Ineson playing the role of the family patriarch, William. So, a little more than a year ago we finally got around to watching this, again, once we got a proper sound bar and sub-woofer tube that can handle this man's voice. 

 

This family was banished from their community for their strict religious beliefs and wanting it imposed on everyone. The governor was having none of it and sent them off. The family selected a spot, and began their life anew. Things seemed fine until the baby son vanished mysteriously while being watched by the eldest daughter, Thomasin (expertly performed by Anya Taylor-Joy). The descent began at that point. A serious of mishaps, strange things, and accusations fly within the family. Of course, there are many occurrences that defy explanation. Since this takes place circa 1630, there were not many things to attribute these weird happenings other than being the work of evil and darkness.

 

The direction and production values in this movie are outstanding. There's a level of realism that's almost surprising bordering on unsettling. That leads to one difficulty. They speak an old English, couple that with a lot of whispering and it can be a little difficult to follow. Mrs. Baxojayz fell asleep a couple times during the movie. She simply lost interest. 

 

The most compelling part of this is that it was written based on actual accounts from that time period. So this movie is a compilation of curious reports. Some people will scoff and say that this is proof that religion is BAD, but in the 1630s, there were a great many unknown things in this world and when bad things happened, it didn't seem out of line to blame it on evil, black magic, and sorcery. While this movie did have some creepy scenes, I found it intriguing and it held my interest the entire time. Worth watching!

   

AMAZON