Disappointment for a huge fan!

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Acting, dialogue, sets, cinematography, and editing were all great. One star given for each of those, so 5/10, but the entire plot is awful, and i cant go any higher than that.I was not expecting or hoping for a super scary horror movie, so thats not why I dont like it. It is very intense, but its really stupid and by the end, just became goofy.So as we all know, witches arent real, and the religious persecution of women believed to be witches is a result of cult-like think and fear and possibly mental illness of those who chose to claim they were witches. This movie, however, asserts that witches are 100% real. Okay.. so lets suspend our disbelief. It is no longer the real world but a world where actual satanic witches who act through satan with magical evil powers exist. Even once you accept that, the behavior of Thomassin is still completely illogical. It turns out she was right that the goat was satan. She sees her whole family possessed and killed and kills her own mother in self defense. So she then decides to join the witches. What??? She wasn't a witch the whole movie. We saw that. We see it through Thomassin's own eyes. We saw that she didn't harm the baby - an actual witch did. She didn't harm Caleb - an actual witch did. She was an innocent party, not possessed, and instead was trying to help her family. Then suddenly at the recognition that her whole family was dead, she decides to join them and they all float in the air naked around a fire.I dont think that this young girl who was very plainly asserted to us to be a loving, faithful daughter who was wrongly blamed for someone else's wrongdoings would suddenly join the witches at the end.So if she actually was a witch throughout the whole movie, as it sometimes is suggested, then they shouldve made it more clear to Thomassin herself. If she noticed herself becoming evil, tried to fight it, but eventually embraced it, then thatd explain her actions. But that didnt happen. She felt innocent, she was innocent and knew it of herself, but she still became evil. Dumb.Also i would've liked more backstory on the witches themselves and a deeper insight into who they are, where they came from, and why they followed this path. Personally I think a movie with a similar tone but instead set in the real world wouldve been better. Instead of actual real witches, the family descends into madness and accuses each other of evil until they are all dead from paranoia and anger. Not some floating naked women and a goat. Or at LEAST if theyre going to choose the supernatural path, make it where Thomassin's actions fit within normal human behavior and not just random. It seemed like they didnt know how to end it any other way.It just felt silly to me.

I rarely ever write reviews anymore- refuse to rate films on a 1-10 scale- and NEVER watch trailers (you guys who watch them- do you also answer phone calls telling you you've been selected to go on a cruise for free?). I, however, felt the urge to write a little concerning Eggers' The Witch- since I watched (and enjoyed) it and, after reading such disparate reviews I felt like chiming in with my own take. I'll let you in on a little secret, if I hear about a film and want to decide if it's worth seeing, I come to IMDB and read the user reviews. If the film has many high AND low ratings from users-it's worth a try. The Witch was just such a film- horror films that are criticized for being "slow" and having "like no plot" in the low ratings are a slam dunk to be good. This is really a very nice little film- but it could have been so much better. I felt that the director was probably made to compromise his vision of the psychological breakup of a Puritan family due to various issues (religious fervor, isolation, jealousy, insecurity, and most importantly the onset of puberty). I find it hard to believe that Eggers ever really intended for the satanic forces to be made visible to the audience (at least not in the sensational way they are)- the viewing of the witch and the baby early in the film destroys the possibility that what is going on here isn't really supernatural at all- and that is the lens through which this film presents its best face. I'd like to think he merely caved to pressure from "money guys" to "sex up his movie" to please the lower level viewers (and, indeed, he didn't even sex it up enough for those Philistines- who wouldn't know a great film if the screen fell forward onto their laps)- sadly this really hurts the film. I will say, however, that i will be anxiously waiting for his next film with the hope that as he achieves enough success he will be able to present his true vision. Developing.

New England, 1630: a puritanical family living in the wilderness are tormented by dark forces.Robert Eggers, director and scribe of The VVitch, thou displeaseth me with thy movie: I commend thee for thy dedication to realism, but authentic production design, gloomy cinematography and oft incomprehensible period dialogue maketh not for an enjoyable experience.I wished to take my leave soon after the start, though I continued perchance matters improved. This was not to be! I bade thee, list' not to the positive reviews that laudeth this film, for I speak aright when I say that The VVitch doth make thine eyes heavy and time standeth still.By the end, thou will hath endured much tedium, but I ask thee 'for what?'. Naught in the way of scares, I tell thee, but many a yawn.

The Witch is an atmospheric period drama/fantasy/thriller that is true to its surroundings. At the time and place, superstitious ideas about witches and devils, sins and redemption was a very social and personal normal condition. The Witch takes the classic fairy-tale approach down a dark path and one becomes a helpless spectator in a world that is both beautiful and frustrating at the same time. The acting is superb and writing borrows directly from historical Puritan and Elizabethan documents to preserve accuracy of dialog, set pieces and culture. It's a disquieting journey with a twist, but if you appreciate this kind of emotional investment in a film, you should find The Witch to be rewarding. What one makes of the ending is entirely personal.