Muristek
The Witch: Robert Eggers’ folk horror debut worms its way under your skin
As The Northman arrives in cinemas, Eggers’ first feature – which also introduced Anya Taylor-Joy to audiences – values dread over cheap jump scares
The Witch is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. For more recommendations of what to stream in Australia, click hereGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email and listen to our podcastRobert Eggers’ new movie, The Northman, arrives in Australian cinemas this week. In order to get prepped for this bloody tale of Viking vengeance, check out his unsettling horror debut The Witch: a folk horror movie that does not rely on gore to terrify the audience, but instead gradually worms its way under your skin to slowly unnerve you. It’s not the plunge from the top of the rollercoaster but a slow drive down a dark, country lane.
Set in 1630, a Puritan settler family are banished from their New England village after a heated religious argument in the colony. Isolated theologically and physically, patriarch William (Ralph Ineson) moves to the edge of a vast, dense forest with his family: wife Katherine (Kate Dickie) and their children Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), twins Mercy and Jonas (Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson), and infant Samuel. But nature is unforgiving and the family’s crops fail. Suddenly, while under Thomasin’s care, baby Samuel disappears, stolen by a witch who dwells within the forest.
Continue reading...