alternativecandidate: The Witch (2015) “The trope of innocent young women as targets for Puritan par
alternativecandidate: The Witch (2015) “The trope of innocent young women as targets for Puritan paranoia is well-worn, to say the least, and the script’s debt to The Crucible is apparent, except that Eggers isn’t simply putting repressive ideology under the microscope. The Witch manages to have it both ways, imagining a universe in which evil comes from within and without. “This thematic balancing act would be unthinkable without Taylor-Joy’s superbly modulated lead performance, which complicates the question of Thomasin’s capital-I Innocence from the very first shot of her staring upward in devout prayer. The film’s allusions to Häxan and The Shining are nicely turned, but by the end, Eggers is doing something similar to Lars von Trier in Antichrist — describing the process by which a young woman can be radicalized by the misogyny of those around her. ” Adam Nayman -- source link