Variety: “A fiercely committed ensemble and an exquisite sense of historical detail conspire to cast a highly atmospheric spell in “The Witch, ‘ a strikingly achieved tale of a mid-17th-century New England family’s steady descent into religious hysteria and madness”.
Advertisement
Given initial reviews and reception at Sundance, The Witch may be the next Babadook or It Follows or whatever other recent exemplary horror film you might use in the continuous battle to prove genre-film detractors wrong. When one of their five children goes missing and their life-sustaining crops fail, they fall victim to paranoia and fear as they begin to turn on one another.
A devoutly Christian family in 1630’s New England, struggles to survive living along the edge of a vast wilderness.
Check out the first trailer and poster for the movie below and judge for yourself. The film will be screened next month in Toronto as part of TIFF before receiving a proper release in early 2016. The R-rated horror film starring Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson earned high praise from critics at the festival, with Variety’s Justin Chang calling it a “gripping historical horror-thriller”.
The Witch hits cinemas next year; its release date is yet to be announced.
Advertisement
The trailer is less than three minutes, but is hauntingly disturbing, interspliced with the picturesque fall farm foliage you know and love.
