Director Robert Eggers makes his directorial debut with this film, which was reportedly a passion project of his, as he grew up fascinated by witches and wanted to eventually make a movie based on old folklore and historical written accounts of witchcraft. Thanks to the moody trailer and good word of mouth it did pretty well at the box office, bringing in a total of over $32-million. I really liked the film, so I'm glad it was fairly successful and hope that we'll see more modest-budgeted story-driven atmospheric horror going to theaters.

The story is set in 17th century New England and follows a Puritan family that's excommunicated from a small village and forced to find a home elsewhere. They eventually build a secluded farm on some empty land near a creepy dense forest, which is rumored to house a witch. The rumors are further vindicated by the disappearance of their baby, which is only the start of their woes... Soon another child disappears, their crops begin to die, and fear and paranoia set in, with the finger pointed at their eldest daughter, who they believe is somehow behind all their troubles.

Much of the flick is simply the plight of the family with only a few scenes depicting something supernatural or sinister afoot, so it's more of a slow-burn psychological story driven watch, but with this great foreboding atmosphere that really stands out among other similarly-themed efforts. It's hard to find genre pics that put the viewer on edge just by its uneasy tone, but that's how I felt while watching this. It's a sense of dread that's apparent throughout the entire movie.

Additionally, to add to the realism of the 17th century setting the filmmakers opted to have much of the dialogue spoken in the language that's supposedly taken straight from the writings of that time period. This took some getting used to, but I appreciated their efforts and it only added to the uniqueness of the film. In the end, aside from some scenes I found unintentionally humorous, it's a pretty dark and realistic take on witchcraft and one of the better flicks to come out of the genre as of late.

The Witch is a slow burn story-driven pic that's heavy in atmosphere and will likely please those seeking a more unique genre effort than what we normally get. I personally found it a refreshing take on the witch subgenre and would definitely recommend it.