Eggers accomplishes a great deal in his first effort, The Witch. He created a feeling to the mo
vie that was eerie, atmospheric, and gloomy. The film is about a strict, religious family during the 1600s that have been kicked out of their village and go live on their own, out in the woods. Once the family finds a way to live outside, they start to encounter problems from evil within the woods. The Witch, however, is extremely unusual, and the originality of the film creates both problems and highlights.

So, I’ll begin with some of the problems that viewers might encounter with this movie. The Witch is a Sundance film; Sundance films have a tendency to be more artsy, and can vary greatly from films meant for the big screen. The Witch is scary, but does not deliver the same scares most people would want to find in other movies within the genre such as Insidious or Paranormal Activity. The film attempts to scare you with real horror and real suspense, rather than the typical jump scares one would find in most horror movies.

However, The Witch would have to be one of the most disturbing films I’ve seen in my recent memory. Robert Eggers has caught my attention with one hell of a debut. What really stuck out was the eeriness that Eggers captures in the movie; he just creates the sense of authenticity so perfectly with every single detail that you would find during that era. The woods that the family resides in seem to be personified with human qualities. The cinematography is gloomy and grim, making the animals, woods and the objects feel very real and evil. The music sounds like the soundtrack of a
madman creeping up next to you, it gives you chills through your body and stays there even after the movie is done. The acting within the film is also of note, such as a scene where a child becomes possessed. The dialogue in the film is almost Shakespearian, they speak to each other as they were living in a folktale, and the cast executes it with top-notch performances.

The Witch is definitely a different type of horror film, because it relies more on natural horror than anything else. Many audience members might not like the idea of it because they are so accustomed to what major horror movie companies produce. The Witch is a superbly made, 1600s era nightmare that feels so authentic with the accuracy that the director provides. I would recommend The Witch to a select group of people; the kind who enjoy more original, artsy flicks. I would not present it as an extremely scary movie, however I would present this film as a well made, period piece with horror elements infused throughout the movie. Go check out The Witch if you want to see a movie that is unique in a way that creeps deep in your skin and does not come out.