THE VVITCH
THE VVITCH A New England Folk Tale (2015)
The VVitch; A New England Folk Tale (2015)
Out on BluRay on 25th July from Second Sight Films comes a special limited edition of this international award-winning folk horror, and debut feature from director Robert Eggers. Coming with a wealth of extras, it’s sure to sell out quicky.
The action is set in New England 1630, where an English puritan farmer William (Ralph Ineson) under threat of banishment, instead takes his family to a remote spot away from the colonial plantation to begin afresh. Their farm is in an inhospitable place, with poor quality land and dense, ominous forest nearby.
His wife, Katherine (Kate Dickie), a nervous, suspicious woman with the challenge of four children to take care of and with new arrival baby Samuel, has her doubts about their new situation, longing to return home to England. Desperate to find food, only son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw) goes on unsuccessful hunting trips with his father, who almost blinds himself with the back draft of powder from his musket, trying to shoot a hare.
The upbringing of Marcy and Jonas, a pair of disobedient, gossiping twins is largely the responsibility of adolescent daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) who scares them with stories of the witch who will come for them if they don’t behave. This innocent remark will prove to be the catalyst of a series of events that will slowly eat away at the family’s already dwindling supplies of food, solidarity and hope.
The disappearance of baby Samuel whilst in Thomasin’s care sets the family on tenterhooks, as they have already heard stories of witches abducting babies for their evil purposes.
Soon, animals start to sicken, crops fail to yield, and Caleb disappears, returning home from the woods stripped, bedraggled and babbling. Everyone is looking for a reason for these misfortunes, or more accurately, a culprit. Katherine’s pleas for decisive action fall on dear ears, and her assessment of her husband’s poor aptitude could be seen as hurtful but is at least accurate. It is when the twins suggest that their misfortunes are the work of a witch, planting a seed in the minds of the family members, that their suggestion that Thomasin is in league with the evil one starts a chain of tragic, shattering events.
‘The VVitch’ tells its tale in a crisp realist style, and the chilling trips into the dark forest and the form of the evil afflicting the family stick to the contemporary descriptions given in historical documents. Performances are excellent, particularly Anya Taylor-Joy’s intelligent, responsible Thomasin, and Harvey Scrimshaw‘s frightened, hag-ridden Caleb. The imaginative, life-affirming ending may surprise, more than disturb you.
Scenester
3/7/22
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