FILM REVIEWS: The Witch by Robert Eggers

The Witch followed the initial mass hysteria of men in the mid-1600s in New England, when women were persecuted and attacked for the assumption of using, or having used, magic.

William and his family had been driven from their Puritan plantations, and decided to develop a small independent farm on the fringes of a vast forest. The eldest daughter, Thomasin, played with her family's last child shortly before she disappeared. William sells his wife's silver cup for hunting supplies, but the loss of the cup gives Katherine the impression that Thomasin is responsible for the loss of the cup and child.

The Witch perfectly displays the mass hysteria surrounding magic of the era, as well as the fragility of such accusations; a simple accusation of witchcraft could send a swirling family into a world of mistrust and hatred, with sorcery once again the reason for such an event.

Audiences continued to be drawn to the side of the mass hysteria as the two youngest children began to make claims that they could and had spoken to Black Philip, the family goat. One of the children is then lured into a small hut in the forest by an attractive woman, finally verifying the existence of witches and magic to the audience - the character later finds out what happened to Caleb, but the blame is pinned on Thomasin.

With audiences aware of Thomasin's innocence, the events of the film continue to escalate with Black Philip being the main reason behind it all, although it is clear that Thomasin is almost at a breaking point: the way he is treated makes him want to take revenge.

The Witch is worth watching, with the ending, in my opinion, close to perfection. This shows that evil is tied not only to witches, but to humanity as a whole.