Genre Challenge - Horror

Disturbing, atmospheric and completely unsettling, The Witch is an incredibly well directed debut feature from Robert Eggers. Not a conventional horror by any means - if you want massive scares you're going to be disappointed. If you can let the frightening ideas play on your mind however, you'll find they can make your skin crawl. The horrors here aren't jump scares, or the threat of a random entity; it's much more scarily ordinary than that. Family, grief, puberty, colonialism, religion, zealousness, pride, the unknown - there are so many real, human problems that create so much panic and dread for our characters. By the end, you aren't sure who's to blame for anything, and the more and more hopeless it becomes, the more the dark side of human nature comes out. The element of witchcraft doesn't just seem like another scary monster threat; it fuels a twisted coming-of-age narrative in a film full of dysfunctional family dynamics, and it's all the more frightening for it.

Each scene feels so well constructed, paced to perfection, never rushing you but still capturing your attention. Clever camera work, beautifully creepy shots and a cast of totally invested and believable actors all help to immerse you in this bleak world. Shot with a lot of natural light, the vast grey landscapes make the world feel hopeless, while candle lit conversations can seem intimate yet inherently eerie all at once. Special mention needs to go to the dialogue - spoken in old english, it's riveting to listen to. It really helps to set the tone for the whole film, with the plot and character development all being conveyed through what feels like very precisely constructed conversations. I love horror that gets into your head and lingers there, and it's safe to say this one will be with me for a while. Oh, and I'll probably never look at a goat the same way.