Which Witch?

Yesterday evening I had the opportunity to see The Witch by writer/director Robert Eggers. Before I tell you what I thought of the movie, I would like to provide you with some information.

• We don't have a television at our house so I saw none of the trailers or previews and heard none on the "news" about it.
• I don't go to the movies very often. The last film I saw in the theater was Alice in Wonderland with Mr. Depp- that was nearly 6 years ago.
• A co-worker saw The Witch and told me she hated it.
• I know reviews have been very mixed.
• I had a large alcoholic beverage right before going into see the movie.

Ok, I won't waste any more of your time. I loved The Witch. I did! I still do! Maybe I had lower expectations than other people? Maybe the alcohol helped? Maybe it's just a really good film.

Do not in any way think that this is a horror film (or even a mystery as IMDb would have you believe.) It is certainly not. I know this because I am really sensitive to scary things (example: as I child I hid behind a chair while watching Scoopy Doo cartoons on Saturday mornings) and I didn't cover my eyes or flinch once. Well, maybe once, but it really was just a flinch. No popcorn was spilled.

I think the important factor to keep in mind while watching this film is the fact that the full title is The Witch: A New England Folktale. While The Witch is an excellent example of what can happen when mass-hysteria hits a small family, I don't think Eggers was trying to be so obvious. Like all good folktales, there is a lesson behind the talk of supernatural and fantastic events. Our enlightened and educated selves perhaps expect Eggers to show us the real story behind the persecution of witches and are then disappointed when he shows us images of witches eating babies and floating naked into the air. But, I counter that he was telling us a story as it would have been told to the Puritans around the fire. This is their story- not ours, and I think it was a very well-crafted. I would see it again. 

I'm interested to know if you saw the film and what your first impressions were. Leave me a comment.