Unnerving Trailer for the Supernatural Horror Film THE WITCH
The Witch was my number one favorite film at Sundance this year. It blew me away, and it was the only film at the film festival that I made sure to watch twice. This movie is incredible in every way, and it's seriously a near perfect film. This is quite a feat for first-time feature film director Robert Eggers, who also wrote the movie. He and his crew went to great lengths to deliver a horrifying and nightmarish movie.
The story is set in New England in the 1600s, and it revolves around the age-old concepts of witchcraft, black magic, and possession. These things are all brought together to tell an intimate story of one family’s descent into terrifying paranoia and madness. The Devil is among them, and he wants this family to be torn apart in the most brutal of ways.
Set in New England circa 1630, The Witch follows a farmer who get cast out of his colonial plantation and is forced to move his family to a remote plot of land on the edge of an ominous forest rumored to be controlled by witches. Almost immediately, strange and unsettling things begin to happen-the animals turn violent, the crops fail, and one of the children disappears, only to return seemingly possessed by an evil spirit. As suspicion and paranoia mount, everyone begins to point the finger at teenage daughter Thomasin. They accuse her of witchcraft, which she adamantly denies…but as circumstances become more and more treacherous, each family member’s faith, loyalty, and love will be tested in shocking and unforgettable ways.
Writer/director Robert Eggers’ debut feature, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival (and won the Best Director Prize in the U.S. Narrative Competition), painstakingly recreates a God-fearing New England decades before the 1692 Salem witch trials, in which religious convictions and pagan folklore famously clashed. Told through the eyes of the adolescent Thomasin – in a star-making turn by newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy – and supported by mesmerizing camera work and a powerful musical score, THE WITCH is a chilling and groundbreaking new take on the genre.
Everyone in this film gave mind-blowing performances, and they are all unknown actors. As I said in my review, "They bring their characters to life in a way that I don't think anyone else could. It is chilling at times to see how well they play these characters. Especially the kids! I don't know how director Robert Eggers got the kids to deliver such mind-blowing performances, but he did it." Then there's the way the film was shot in which I said, "The cinematography is stunning. It is one of the most beautifully shot films that I've seen in years. There are visual in the movie that I definitely won't forget. The way they use natural lighting to give this movie a period look is incredible. It enhances the eerie vibe of the story."
There's no exact release date for the movie yet, but it will be released sometime in 2016. Whenever this movie is released, though, you need to see it! You will not be disappointed.