Monday, February 22, 2016

Review: The Witch

by Patrick Bromley
Or: We Need to Talk About Black Phillip.

Writer/director Robert Eggers' debut feature The Witch has already become one of the most talked about horror movies in years. Prominent genre journalists have called in not just one of the best horror movies in years, but of all time. Mainstream audiences are polarized, with the movie getting a marketing push and a wide theatrical release courtesy of A24 but earning a "C-" on that horrible CinemaScore (which is a worthless and stupid measurement that I only bring up because even a piece of shit tends to earn at least a B, which means those polled were really put off by the movie). Like last year's It Follows and The Babadook the year before that, The Witch has become the next highly contested entry in the horror genre. It can't just be a good movie; it has to be the second coming of horror. If it's not...well, then, it's an overhyped piece of shit. There is no middle ground.

I get it. This is a movie that's going to frustrate any audience who goes into it because it looked scary in a TV spot and is expecting the next The Visit or something. This is not a good time at the movies. It is deliberately paced. It takes place in the 17th century and all of the actors speak in period-accurate dialects and language. It never dumbs itself down or makes any concessions for the viewer, expecting anyone who sees it to keep up with it on the movie's terms. It is uncompromising in a way that will alienate the majority of the multiplex crowd. It is also an expertly realized, visionary piece of work and a great horror film, albeit one to which I didn't connect all that much. I appreciated everything about it without really being drawn in.
In the early 1600s, a New England family leaves their settlement and sets out for themselves, establishing a new home on the edge of a forest. One day, teenage daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) is charged with caring for her newborn baby brother Samuel, who disappears practically in front of her eyes, stolen for a sacrifice by a witch that lives in the woods. Devastated by their loss, the family falls under what appears to be a curse. Deeply religious father William (Ralph Ineson) is unable to successfully hunt. His crops will not grow. Son Caleb (Harveey Scrimshaw) gets sick. Twin siblings Jonas (Lucas Dawson) and Mercy (Ellie Grainger) accuse their older sister Thomasin of being a witch and responsible for the family's misfortune. Things get only worse, not better.

The two movies that come most to mind in reflecting on The Witch are The Shining and The Exorcist, though not for the reasons you might think. I'm sure it seems very base and obvious to compare a new horror film to what are widely considered two of the best horror movies ever made -- it suggests a an absence of thought and insight on my part. While these accusations may be completely accurate, I don't draw the comparisons in terms of quality -- this isn't a case of Exorcist director William Friedkin hyping up The Babadook by calling it the scariest movie he's ever seen, thereby implying it is on the level if not superior to his own classic. The Shining comes to mind because of its emphasis on technical perfection, an area at which The Witch truly excels. This is a movie without a hair out of place that director Eggers doesn't want out of place. The camera is calculated and deliberate, the editing unusually patient. Jarin Blaschke's photography, shot almost exclusively in natural light, is impossibly beautiful but never self-conscious in its stylization. The movie is exact but never fussy, cold but not clinical, only loosening as the family slowly descends into disarray and madness, much like the Torrence family's stay at The Overlook hotel.
Where Eggers borrows from The Exorcist isn't with any possession stuff, but in the way he approaches the material with utter realism and believability. That's being overlooked in some of the conversation surrounding the movie, I'm assuming because of the historical remove inherent in the period setting -- we cannot see the reality of the situation or the characters' reactions because the events are taking place 400 years ago and these people look and talk different than we do now. But just as Friedkin approached something supernatural with a kind of documentarian's eye, treating every impossible new development as though it were something actually happening, so too does Eggers in The Witch. These people react just as these people would. Perhaps just as any of us would. Despite the presence of images and occurrences that cannot be explained, there is a dark logic to The Witch that recalls The Exorcist. Maybe no one else will see the connections to that movie or to The Shining, but it's not bad company in which to be.

The movie's "realism" extends to the way it addresses its more horrific elements as well. There isn't the usual hysteria of witchcraft movies, which depend on the historical foundation of the Salem trials to function as a metaphor for the condemnation of women throughout the decades. Eggers sets up almost immediately that there is a real live witch in the movie and that she is causing shit to happen for this family. At the same time, the way they respond works whether the witch is real or not. The movie deals very seriously with faith and religion in ways both positive and negative; at some moments it offers transcendence and at others it is powerless against the very dark forces it exists to combat. The way that Eggers explores the changing family dynamic is fascinating regardless of any supernatural forces at play, and ultimately The Witch can be viewed as a treatise on the dangers of pride. One of my favorite shots in the entire movie is of a bunch of wood falling, a moment that is so tragic on a human level and speaks volumes about our own insignificance. You'll know it when you see it.
I have nothing but positive things to say about The Witch, and yet I don't see it as a movie to which I'm likely to return. I tend to like my horror films a bit more ragged and rough around the edges, but that's just preference and not a commentary on the quality of this one. I'm so thankful that The Witch exists at all, and especially that it's getting a wide release, as it's unlike anything I've seen and unlike anything I'm likely to see for some time. I love that it's a witch movie that takes its subject matter seriously, approaches it 100% straightfacedly and has the courage of its own convictions. That a film like this can be financed and put into theaters is further proof of what a new Golden Age of horror we are living in, and as the movie slowly burns into a waking nightmare, we are reminded that Great Horror is Great Art. Sometimes Great Art is more easily admired than enjoyed, but that may say more about the admirer than the Art.

24 comments:

  1. Great review Patrick, I agree with most every point you made, although I think I liked it a bit more. It was interesting to see this in a multiplex though, with the usual Friday night crowd, people who say things like "I like to be scared!" out of maybe 100 people, I'm fairly certain I'm the only one who liked it, a lot of the language and disturbing imagry was met with uncomfortable laughter. The reaction on Facebook was even woese, with a lot of people declaring it "the worst movie Ever." makes me sad...

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    1. I unfortunately had the same type of crowd at the screening I saw last night. After the show, one guy was even telling people in the lobby not to see it because it was "horrible."

      Such a shame. I loved it.

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    2. Same here. We went to fairly crowded weekend screening. My boyfriend and I liked it a lot but we could tell the reaction in the theater was not positive. Lots of grumbling when it ended.

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    3. I get it though. It's a movie I liked a lot, but wouldn't recommend to any of my friends. A lot of people can't handle being uncomfortable, and that's fine.

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  2. Great review. I thought this movie was horrifying and was one of the scariest experience ls I've had in years. It was like going through a terrifying haunted house. Not exactly enjoyable, but exactly what I came for. Yeah, the movie freaked me out. It's terrific.

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  3. I feel very similarly Patrick.

    As for my theatrical experience, everyone was laughing uncomfortably whenever Black Phillip was on screen. Thankfully, that goat had the acting chops to keep me sufficiently creeped out and on the edge of my seat despite the morons giggling behind me.

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  4. Great review. Much like Billy Graham and other religious types used to to say they could literally feel Satan in the film of The Exorcist, I could feel that same vibe here and your comparisons to that same feeling The Exorcist gives are spot on.

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  5. I want a Black Phillip stuffed animal.

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  6. Thanks for the review! I really enjoyed watching this film, and I think it's quite strong. Still, I have a hard time relating to profoundly religious characters, and their reactions seem so absurd to me. This is in spite of the fact that their reactions are completely warranted in the world the film portrays. It ends up being very confusing for me as a viewer. Of course, this has nothing to do with the quality of the film.

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    1. Did I say warranted? I meant understandable.

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    2. I couldn't agree more and I think that was the intention. I saw this film as very anti religious. Where The Exorcist has faith sort of prevailing, this movie makes faith either useless or, as we saw in the opening scene, detrimental to the family.

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  7. An interesting companion piece to watch with this movie is the 1922 Swedish silent film Häxan. It's a documentary on Witchcraft I enjoy largely due to the live action bits in it, which among other things include what is quite possibly my favorite film depiction of the Devil. The set and costume design is also pretty impressive considering when and where this movie was made.

    Originally banned in the U.S., it was later released here in the late 60's as Witchcraft Through the Ages with narration by William S. Burroughs added in place of the text resulting in a shorter run time. The score was also replaced with an odd jazz score (which I actually like) and while the original version seems to have some sort of red filter applied to a lot of it, this version is black and white. There was a Criterion dvd release some time back that contains both, but the Witchcraft Through the Ages version is also available free on Prime.

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    1. Also apparently the original version of Häxan is available on Hulu.

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  8. Great review Patrick. That wood falling scene was hard hitting for sure. Got to see this with a crowd that was completely into it. A guy near me was curled up in fear during those closing scenes. Really awesome stuff. I loved the movie and it continues to get better as I think about it. I love The Shining so anything that reminds me of The Shining is already pretty great. But this movie definitely stands on it's own. I think it's an incredibly confident debut. Also got to see a live Q&A with Eggers and Anya Taylor-Joy after the film. Lots of good info. He confirmed The Shining as an inspiration and say he watched it repeatedly to learn how to maintain tension and dread. He was very aware of the negative reaction to the movie from some audiences but it really didn't seem to bother him but he also seemed to really appreciate the positive reaction from the audience at my screening. I really can't wait to see what Eggers does next!

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    1. Thanks! Glad to hear I'm not reading too much into the Shining comparison.

      Correct me if I'm wrong -- and this MIGHT be a minor SPOILER for those who are trying to avoid them -- but when the wood falls, that's the first reveal of how much there is, right? Because that's a big part of what I was responding to. But maybe I missed something earlier.

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    2. I think you can see it in the background in a couple of shots but im not 100% sure (My girlfriend and I literally just got home from the film and neither of us is confident you see it earlier but we both think that you do). Also: wow, what a great film, I absolutely loved it.

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    3. I think you're correct Patrick, but I had certainly gotten the idea that homeboy was way into chopping wood.

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    4. It was bigger than Iron Man and Captain America's wood piles combined.

      Disclaimer: This joke requires people to remember details of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

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    5. I think the chopped wood was supposed to represent all of the fathers failings. Chopping wood was something the father couldn't fuck up. So every time he failed to do something for his family, be it hunting, growing crops, or protecting his children, he chopped some wood. So when it all fell on him, he was figuratively crushed by his own failures.

      OR it was Eggers' homage to the scene in Star Trek: Generations where Kirk and Picard team up to chop wood.

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    6. Yes Brian! In fact Thomasin says as much to her dear old Dad...I also agree that seeing it at a theater is a gamble. It's fine if people have problems with the film but I feel like the crowd I saw it with were not smart enough to have an opinion. They were for the most part hostile toward the film and probably to being challenged. Movies are an investment in time and money and even though I lament the loss of the theater experience, this viewing made a case for watching it in my home. I can honestly say though that the movie was so good, it still affected me (and continues to) despite the assholes I had to watch it with.
      Great Review...We need to talk about Black Phillip indeed!

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  9. Great review Patrick, I especially like the comparison to The Exorcist in regards to the real world tone the movie established. I thought the natural lighting was particularly effective. The movie did ultimately leave me cold though. I thought that may be intentional on the filmmakers part to keep the audience at arms length, but maybe I'm just rationalizing why I wasn't more invested. I also read the family's struggle as less of a decent into madness and more of a loss of faith, although for as much time as it spent on religion I'm not sure it had that much to say. I did enjoy the movie though and am glad people are seeing it.

    P.S. I'm fairly new to the site (this is my first time posting) and I just want to say Thank you to Patrick, the fthismovie family, and all the f heads out there who make it so great.

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  10. So glad you referenced this review on the podcast, it was a fabulous read!

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