The Witch remains an A24 horror peak 10 years on

Ten years after its release, Robert Eggers’ debut feature still reads as a high point for A24’s quieter, artier strain of horror. On A24’s old box-office chart the film finished just behind Alex Garland’s Ex Machina in the U.S. while edging ahead internationally, and it helped establish the studio as a home for hushed, folk-tinged scares.

Set in overcast 17th-century New England, the movie opens with William and his family banished from a Puritan settlement and trying to survive on the bleak outskirts of a forest. Eggers builds fear by keeping much of the menace off-screen: Samuel vanishes in an instant while Thomasin looks away, and the film cuts between the aftermath and glimpses of a shadowy witch rather than showing the full horror.

Anya Taylor-Joy’s expressive performance as Thomasin anchors the film, with recurring shots of her looking upward that feel more desperate than devotional.

United States, New England

the witch, robert eggers, a24, anya taylor-joy, thomasin, puritan, 17th-century, new england, folk horror, ex machina