Looking back on The VVitch after nearly a decade, it’s safe to say that, thanks to Robert Eggers’s fully formed visual style, confident direction, tonal consistency, and obsessive attention to historical detail, it is one of the finest horror films of the 21st century and one of the best directorial debuts of recent times (alongside Jordon Peels’s Get Out (2017), Ari Aster’s Hereditary (2018), Damien Chazelle’s Whipslash (2014), and Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird (2017)). It’s a slow-burning, tightly controlled folk horror that digs deep into religious fanaticism, familial breakdown, and the uneasy space where superstition becomes indistinguishable from the supernatural.
In 1630, a Puritan family is banished from their plantation after a dispute over religious doctrine. William (Ralph Ineson), his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), their teenage daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), twins Mercy and Jonas, and baby Samuel settle on a farm beside a thick forest. Things go wrong almost immediately, and fear starts spreading through the family. As their trust in one another slowly disappears, something sinister lurking among the trees seems to be drawing closer.
Eggers keeps the story remarkably focused. It starts with the family being cast out of their community, then follows them as they try to build a new life beside the forest, only for one horrible thing after another to creep into their lives. Samuel disappears, the crops fail, the animals start behaving strangely, sickness spreads, and before long, nobody in the family trusts anyone anymore. Eggers’s script does an interesting thing here. Unlike most horror films, which play the murky game of “Are the strange things happening real, or are they crazy?” The VVitch mainly accepts the reality of the supernatural (the disappearance of Sam being the finest example), while leaving little leeway for psychological interpretations (infected food creating hallucinations, suppressed sexual drives, and extreme solitude). The last act amplifies the dread, culminating in a conclusion that can be interpreted as either tragic or liberating, depending on one’s perspective.
The VVitch is a claustrophobic ride through and through, getting under your skin with its constant sense of isolation and mounting paranoia. Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography deserves much of the credit, turning the forest into a vast and suffocating presence. Shot using an ARRI Alexa Plus in 2.8K ArriRaw with vintage lenses, the film utilizes natural light for exterior shots and window light during the day, period-appropriate candles, and off-camera tea lights for nighttime interior shots, all shot on a 1.66:1 aspect ratio (a conscious decision to heighten the oppressiveness of the environment). The result is a film that feels immersive, natural, and lived-in rather than stylized or overly polished.
The level of attention to detail and the makers’ commitment to historical accuracy are astounding. Craig Lathrop, the production designer, built the farm and house using period-appropriate techniques and materials, such as hand-riven oak and hand-forged nails. Eggers was just as meticulous with his research, studying Puritan prayer manuals, the Geneva Bible, period agricultural literature, and other historical sources to bring 17th-century life to the screen. All that work might sound excessive on paper, but it pays off. The world feels authentic, as though it existed long before the cameras arrived.
The VVitch packs a surprising amount into just 92 minutes, giving each of its ideas enough depth and attention without ever feeling rushed. The film explores religious extremism through William’s rigid beliefs, which first drive the family into exile and then begin to tear them apart from within. The more fiercely they cling to their faith, the more fear, suspicion, intolerance, and violence creep into the household.
Thomasin’s character arc sits at the film’s heart. The Thomasin we meet at the beginning is pious, obedient, and desperate to be a good daughter; the Thomasin we see at the end has cast all of that aside and chosen power and freedom for herself. Once things start going wrong, Thomasin quickly becomes the one everyone blames, even when the problems have nothing to do with her. Eggers uses her character to expose the ugly side of a deeply patriarchal society, where a woman can easily become the scapegoat and her independence, sexuality, and desires can be treated as something dangerous. Beneath all the horror, The VVitch is really a story about a family coming apart. Isolation and fear do most of the damage, leaving the external forces (in this case, the supernatural forces) with plenty of cracks to crawl through and tear them apart from the inside.
Anya Taylor-Joy makes a hell of a first impression as Thomasin. She handles the character’s gradual transformation beautifully, letting the changes come through without ever overplaying them. Harvey Scrimshaw is just as impressive, and honestly, he was one of my biggest surprises. His Caleb is sweet, vulnerable, and painfully innocent, which makes what happens to him hit that much harder.
The VVitch movie links: Letterboxd, IMDb, Wikipedia
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