After wading through the murky waters of mediocre thrills and frights I’ve finally found something that perfectly captures the gut-wrenching genre of horror.

The Witch is far from an easy viewing experience, but it is almost impossible to rip your eyes from the screen as you watch this tale of sin, deals with the devil, and a family that is torn apart from within. Between the bloody sacrifices, regurgitation, and some lightly implied incest, The Witch is delightfully ruthless, outright nightmarish, and will have you feeling sick by its conclusion…but really, what more could you ask from a horror? The last horror that left such an impression on me was Midsommar, which I greatly enjoyed. The Witch is really well-written, it’s paced well and it really manages to keep you on your toes, the twists and references to past events will have you seeing characters and scenes in a whole new light – I gasped, I groaned, truly a roller coaster of emotions. I can’t praise this cast enough, especially the children involved in this gruesome production, I’m beyond impressed with their performances and the passion behind them at such a young age. Anya Taylor-Joy stars in a role of conflict and misunderstanding, staying as talented as she’s proven to be.

While the soundtrack is damn intense, one thing that surprised me was actually the use of silence, horrors and thrillers so often use loud instrumentals to set a tone, but filmmaker Robert Eggers uses this powerful silence that brings you to an edge, unlike anything I’ve experienced. Meanwhile, the dialogue is meaty and layered with religious motif, at least from what I could decipher, if I’m dead honest with you…the old-timey dialect made some lines harder to understand. Eggers really doesn’t hold back on the gruesome imagery, with close-ups of bloody naked witches and animal carcases, it sets a necessarily discomforting tone. Speaking of bloody witches, I’m not sure if it’s CGI or make-up or heck even a real person, but the witch in this is so damn irking.

…My family grows concerned with my commitment to this marathon of horrors and thrillers…I shall not stop.