A24 has released another creepyThe Witchtrailer, which perfectly balances the film’s inciting event (a baby goes missing, and its family suspects an evil witch in the woods may be responsible) and the eerie, unsettling mood that pervadesRobert Eggers’ debut feature.
I managed to catchThe Witchlast year at TIFF, and if the movie had opened in general release in 2015, it easily would have made my Top 10. It’s one of the best horror films I’ve ever seen, and so perfectly crafted that it reaches points of infinite possibility where you believe any horrible thing could happen at any moment, but not in a “jump scare” kind of way.The Witchis the stuff of everlasting nightmares, and I can’t wait for everyone else to finally get a look at this movie.
Check outThe Witchtrailer below, andclick herefor Adam’s review from last year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film opens February 19th, and starsAnya Taylor-Joy,Ralph Ineson,Kate Dickie,Harvey Scrimshaw,Ellie Grainger, andLucas Dawson.
Here’s the official synopsis forThe Witch:
In this exquisitely made and terrifying new horror film, the age-old concepts of witchcraft, black magic and possession are innovatively brought together to tell the intimate and riveting story of one family’s frightful unraveling in the New England wilderness circa 1630. New England, 1630. Upon threat of banishment by the church, an English farmer leaves his colonial plantation, relocating his wife and five children to a remote plot of land on the edge of an ominous forest - within which lurks an unknown evil. Strange and unsettling things begin to happen almost immediately - animals turn malevolent, crops fail, and one child disappears as another becomes seemingly possessed by an evil spirit. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, family members accuse teenage daughter Thomasin of witchcraft, charges she adamantly denies. As circumstances grow more treacherous, each family member’s faith, loyalty and love become tested in shocking and unforgettable ways.
Writer/director Robert Eggers' debut feature, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival - winning 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 tragically turned to mass hysteria. 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.
