Horror movies are made to appeal to an ever-widening audience. Previous gatekeepers like hyper-adult themes and visceral displays of terror are now being toned down to appease younger viewers (See Alien vs. Predator). Horrifying pictures that wrench into the gut of moviegoers are becoming less and less common. Enter Robert Eggers. Bucking the trend for softening things up, Eggers instead offered a deeply unsettling debut with The Witch. The film is a living nightmare, playing on fears and forcing viewers to retreat inside themselves for protection. Its affect doesn’t stop at the edge of the screen; it stays with you long after you’ve stopped watching.
Set in New England circa 1630, the picture opens on a colonial plantation. William (Ralph Ineson) and his family are forced to relocate to a tract of land on the edge of a foreboding forest. When their crops start dying off and their infant son goes missing, they fall apart, leaving them vulnerable to attack by an evil force.
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