Not since the original Exorcist has a horror film caused such a stir in the mainstream. This film has been praised and lauded as one of the most terrifying films you will see with the seal of approval from maestro of horror Stephen King himself. The film is even being backed by the Satanic Temple as reigning in a new age satanism. These are all huge claims being hurled at this movie and it is a lot of hype to take in. What does this film represent? What type of horrors will it unleash on the viewer? What powers do the witch hold? All these questions are answered but the answers might not be what you would presume. 
William a very devout Puritan has had enough of the plantation he lives on and his neighbors whom he deems to be not truly God fearing people. For his accusations of false ideology upon his fellow Puritans he and his family are cast out into the wilderness where he seeks to build his own farm and live as a truly devout religious man. His pride getting the best of him, he soon discovers the difficulties of starting life anew especially within a forest that seems to be so sickly that it kills any chance of growing food. One day his baby son Samuel is taken as his eldest daughter Thomasin is watching him. They look for days but to no avail as William simply blames his sons disappearance on a wolf. His wife Katherine cries day in and out over the loss of her son and home as each member of the family questions their faith and struggles against temptations. Within the forest lies an evil that they cannot explain and in turn pass the blame of witchcraft on one another, creating a schism in the family allowing true evil to sink in and tear them asunder.
This film is called the Witch and yes there is a Witch in it but there is so much more to the film itself. It is very reminiscent of John Carpenter's The Thing in that it has the same paranoia of who to trust, the atmosphere is very tense and the horror comes from each member of the family itself as they see people whom their whole lives have revolved around as now being bringers of doom. This tensity is amplified by the imagery of what the Witches represent. 
Their dogmatic views and how far they will go to uphold and keep them in turn are also frightening, but also very evocative of the time period. The time period plays a huge part in the terror as in a contemporary film of this kind the family unit being torn asunder would question the supernatural while William and his family easily embrace it and quickly lose their minds believing it. Each member of the family once in the forest begins to give into a type of sin. Lust and Pride are perhaps the two biggest ones and the Witch picks up on them and uses them to her advantage, seducing the family with their deepest desires in the simplest ways. 
Director/Writer Robert Eggers crafted a very straightforward narrative. My biggest concern was the dialogue as it is so genuine to the time period that at times can be hard to follow and understand but the pacing and imagery tell the story so well you it's very easy to follow. The dialogue itself was painstakingly put together by Eggers combing over actual documents and journals of people in that time period that had dealt with Witchcraft which only intensifies the thought of reality the film holds. It's a definite slow burn type film where we get glimpses of the supernatural but most of it is of the family as their inner demons rising brings out the true horror. By the time the film ends and the family is in shambles the idea of the Witch and her way of life is shown almost as a salvation to the surviving family member. The ending of the film is the only point in which I can understand why the Satanic Temple would endorse the film because while the Witch is very much deemed evil throughout the film she and her religion do indeed open up a new world for said surviving member. The end brings about a fully eerie and chilling final sequence that is strange and beautiful at the same time. 
It's a film that will confuse people as its being fed to the masses as the Witch being the horror while I feel it's the people within that bring the horror. It doesn't truly bring any judgement upon either religion either. I felt if anything it's that too much of any dogma can be bad if you don't question it at some point. You must shape your faith with your humanity. There's a lot to be taken from this film but I fear it will indeed go over mainstream audiences heads because of how it is presented. However it is a very cleverly put together film and a very tense ensemble piece as the actors all brought a lot to the table. It gives you a nice glimpse of this worlds supernatural capabilities but doesn't overtly push them on you with jump scares. I give it four Baphomets out of five and cannot wait to see what Eggers does in his future!
