The Witch (2016)
77%RT Audience Score: 59%
Awards & Nominations: 43 wins & 71 nominations
As thought-provoking as it is visually compelling, The Witch delivers a deeply unsettling exercise in slow-building horror that suggests great things for debuting writer-director Robert Eggers
The Witch is a movie that’ll make you want to sleep with the lights on for a week. It’s not your typical horror flick with jump scares and gore, but it’s a slow burn that’ll leave you feeling uneasy. The soundscape is amazing, and the meticulousness of the director is evident in every scene. It’s a chilly film that’ll nibble away at your nerves, and the origin story of America bubbling beneath the surface adds an extra layer of intrigue. Overall, it’s a haunting and thrilling debut for Anya Taylor Joy, and I can’t wait to see what the director does next.
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros. Pictures, Endeavor Content One Community
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
Kiosk, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for disturbing violent content and graphic nudity
Year of Release
2016
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 32m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:Canada
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 19, 2016 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 17, 2016
Genre(s)
Horror
Keyword(s)
starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas Dawson, directed by Robert Eggers, written by Robert Eggers, horror, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Britt Ashley, Steven D Greydanus, Nigel Andrews, Sara Michelle Fetters, Max Weiss, Jason Bailey, Brian Eggert, Rosa Parra, Olly Richards, Emma Wolfe, Ian Brill, Richard Crouse, produced by Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, Daniel Bekerman, Rodrigo Teixeira, R-rated, witchcraft, New England, puritan, folklore, supernatural, slow-building horror, unsettling, disturbing, paranoia, faith, loyalty, love, family, twins, suspicion, MPAA rating, graphic nudity, disturbing violent content, A24, 1630, farmer, wife, children, youngest son, Samuel, disappears, Thomasin, oldest daughter, witchcraft, allegorical interpretation, origin story, America, The Shallows, Haywire, Cold in July, Split, Ma
Worldwide gross: $40,423,945
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $49,822,454
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,327
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,433,201
US/Canada gross: $25,138,705
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $30,983,418
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,264
US/Canada opening weekend: $8,800,230
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $10,846,271
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 933
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,929,994
Production budget ranking: 1,914
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,654,802
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $42,237,658
ROI to date (est.): 557%
ROI ranking: 229
Ralph Ineson – William
Kate Dickie – Katherine
Harvey Scrimshaw – Caleb
Ellie Grainger – Mercy
Lucas Dawson – Jonas
Director(s)
Robert Eggers
Writer(s)
Robert Eggers
Producer(s)
Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, Daniel Bekerman, Rodrigo Teixeira
Film Festivals
Sundance, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
43 wins & 71 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (332) | Top Critics (73) | Fresh (300) | Rotten (32)
Like any good horror film, The Witch is rife with opportunity for allegorical interpretation, and one of the most compelling narratives bubbling beneath surface is the origin story of America itself.
February 10, 2021
Britt Ashley
Bitch Media
TOP CRITIC
The stakes are real. The Devil is real. All roads do not lead up the mountain. Some lead to the heart of darkness, to the depths of a witch-haunted wood.
April 28, 2017 | Rating: A
Steven D. Greydanus
Catholic Digest
TOP CRITIC
The film starts with wordy wittering and ends by trying to woo our shrieks — from Arthur Miller to Dennis Wheatley in the shortest time possible between two blunt points.
December 27, 2016 | Rating: 2/5
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
I’m fairly positive scares are not the point. Eggers takes things to a place that’s far more disconcerting, showing how human nature can be the most destructive of all forces.
August 15, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
As horror films go, the film is more slow burn than an edge-of-your-seat thriller, but it builds steadily to its dreadful and earned conclusion.
June 10, 2016 | Rating: 2.5/4
Max Weiss
Baltimore Magazine
TOP CRITIC
A film that surrounds you with a general yet mostly indescribable sense of unease, less through its violence or blood than its mood and tension. And then it clobbers you.
April 27, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
Eggers has made an unforgettable film that leaves us eagerly anticipating what he’ll do next.
April 22, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
An incredible debut for Anya Taylor Joy. Haunting, thrilling, and accompanied by a strong score.
January 25, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5
Rosa Parra
Latinx Lens
A chilly horror film that’ll nibble away at your nerves…
June 8, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Olly Richards
NME
I thought the soundscape was amazing in this movie… I felt like if it didn’t have that soundscape going along with the images it wouldn’t have been as scary as it was.
May 11, 2021 | Rating: 7/10
Emma Wolfe
SpookyAstronauts
Eggers’ meticulousness, no doubt honed in his former job, is the source of this film’s strength.
April 13, 2021
Ian Brill
Battleship Pretension
The kind of horror film that is not content to simply say “Boo!” There are few, if any, jump scares in the film. Instead, it’s the kind of puritanical folk tale that slowly burrows itself into your brain, leaving you queasy and uneasy.
February 3, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
Richard Crouse
Richard Crouse…
Plot
New England, 1630: William and Katherine try to lead a devout Christian life, homesteading on the edge of an impassible wilderness, with five children. When their newborn son mysteriously vanishes and their crops fail, the family begins to turn on one another. ‘The Witch’ is a chilling portrait of a family unraveling within their own sins, leaving them prey for an inconceivable evil.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Witch stars Anya Taylor-Joy in her breakout role as Thomasin.
Robert-Eggers.jpg
