The VVitch is a 2015 period supernatural movie directed by Robert Eggers. It follows a religious family in the 1630’s who live by a forest and are terrorized by forces that question their true devotion to their religion. The Witch (2015) movie review
The movie itself is a very slow burn. There is not too much going on for a big portion of the movie. It relies on atmosphere to create a world full of paranoia and uncertainty. Paranoia of the forest as well as whether this family and their values are being tested by God. It builds up in a way that everything happening to them (such as baby’s disappearance or crops going bad) are constantly taken as face value that their family has in some way gone against the will of the God.
Most of the dialogue was inspired by actual writing of this period. Clothing is also accurate to to the period. The producers did a lot of research on how people talked and what type of clothes they wore. They consulted museums, books, and historians to make it as accurate as possible. It ends up giving off an authentic feel to the characters that are in the world governed by a religious doctrine that guides every aspect of their life. They live a simple life of tending chores and praying. However, they are constantly tested by unseen forces and life in general.
The music in this movie is so simple and melodic, creating a tense atmosphere where not a lot is happening but it conjures up a feeling that makes mundane things freighting. The world as the characters know it is crumbling yet they don’t know how to fix it.
There is no logical explanations for what is happening to them so they start to blame a supernatural presence. A force that found a weak spot and is able to tear them apart with a little persuasion. A lot of the scenes had slow zooms as well as little music to up the creep factor. This generally works because these are simple times where life was slow and repetitive. In fact, most of the lighting in the movie was done with natural light or candles to highlight the bleakness of life.
The entire movie was a family drama centered around religious themes of witchcraft and betrayal. I believe the director did a fantastic job bringing this to life. With extensive search on customs of this period and the way they talked, he was able to bring to life a true story of a family that is fighting to keep it together during a time of uncertainty and religious persecution. They live a solitary life yet are somehow corrupted by forces outside of their control. They don’t deserve it but life never plays fair so they fall victim to bad circumstances.
Overall the movie is long and beautifully shot. From dialogue to clothes that are worn to the chores that the characters were busy with, the director went all in to bring this vision of a family trying to stay together during a very frightful time of their lives. It is a slow burn and some would say it doesn’t have a good payout, but it has heart. It shows a huge effort on behalf of cast and the director so at least we can all agree that that was very admirable.
Thanks for reading my The VVitch (2015) movie review
