The Witch (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: Robert Eggers (Nosferatu)
	Actors: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Kate Dickie (Prometheus)
	Country: USA, CDN
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 28.01.2016, Cinema Casino, GIFFF2016, Official Selection
Synopsis: New Engand, 1630's. A family of six colons is cast out from their village and start a new life by building a farm at the edge of the forest. The newborn son is abducted while under the care of the oldest daughter.
Review: If I found Bone Tomahawk to be first a realistic depiction of the life in the Wild West (before a fantastic story), I could say the same about The Witch two centuries earlier during the early conquest of the same West. This very harsh environment is well depicted by following this family casted out from their village and having to live for themselves at the edge of the forest. I found the movie quite slow and sometimes even boring, but on the other hand the religious dialogs are good (all extracted from texts of the period as we learn during the credits), a few scenes made my hair stand on end and in fact it might be the best and scariest Witch movie I have ever seen. And the actors are remarkable, from the hard-working father (excellent Ineson that I mistook for Clive Owen) to the pious mother (Kate Dickie, also a perfect cast), the cute but disturbing daughter and her brother played by the unknown Lucas Dawson that at some point delivers a totally mesmerizing (and mesmerized) performance for such a young age. The twin kids are also good and actually spooked me because we almost never see them in close-up or facing the camera, like if they were ghosts. And the ending is totally satisfying.
Rating: 7 /10