#TIFF15: “THE WITCH”

Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong

In Robert Eggers’ first attempt at writing and directing a Feature, he manages to wow audiences with his haunting and eerie debut, The Witch. The Movie comes across as a Brothers Grimm-like Fairy Tale, before they became Disney-fied, embracing the dark and disturbing in this suspenseful Horror that will deeply satisfy a crowd that has been looking for a good scare.

The Movie focuses on a family as they have to go through their lives after a strange encounter with a witch, something that leaves several of the children affected in horrifying ways. The parents, Katherine (Kate Dickie) and William (Ralph Ineson) believe that the witch is in fact their oldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) despite their being a very dark and ominous factor to their billy goat, Black Philip (Wahab Chaudhry).

What makes The Witch completely unsettling is the elements that Eggers takes from similarly-styled movies such as The Shinning, this resemblance of a rather normal life thrown in super-powers outside our comprehension, to create a supernatural thriller. The soundtrack also helps play an important part in the creation of this deeply-unnerving Film. The Witch is an absolute must-see for any Horror fanatic.

Elevation Pictures release THE WITCH, which premieres on Friday, September 18th at 6:15 pm at Ryerson Theatre and has a second screening Saturday, September 19th at 9:15 pm at the Bloor Hot Docs Theatre.