The Witch

In 1630 a devout family moves away from their Puritan settlement to set up a farm on the edge of a dense, foreboding wood. They try to keep strict routines and hold to their beliefs, but odd events begin to crack the surface of their daily life, from strange animal behavior to eerie sounds at night. Tension grows as suspicion spreads between family members, and small incidents stretch into deep mistrust. The story remains tightly focused on how fear and rigid faith strain relationships, letting dread accumulate through quiet moments and strained conversations rather than loud shocks. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the eldest daughter, whose role becomes central as the household's fragile order starts to fall apart.

Released in 2016, The Witch was directed by Robert Eggers. He leaned on careful period research and an austere visual style to evoke 17th century New England, and the film's language and set design drew attention for their historical flavor.

On a relatively modest budget the movie found an audience beyond arthouse circles and performed well enough to raise the director's profile. Its commercial viability showed there was an appetite for slow-burning, historically rooted horror, and that success helped Eggers move on to larger projects.

The film played a big part in renewing interest in folk horror aesthetics, favoring atmosphere and historical unease over jump scares. It also helped launch Anya Taylor-Joy's career and sparked conversations about how cinema can portray religious paranoia and isolated communities, with several later genre films seeming to take cues from its tone and visuals.

Critical and audience response tended toward praise for mood, acting and meticulous period detail, reflected in an average vote near 7 out of 10 from viewers. Some critics noted the film's deliberate pacing might frustrate those expecting conventional scares, but most agreed its themes—religious extremism, the erosion of trust, and the peril of insular thinking—are explored with steady, unsettling confidence.